


Sugar

by rendawnie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Awkward Sexual Situations, Baker Yukhei, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Bartender Doyoung, Bathroom Sex, Boys Kissing, Clubbing, Cupcakes, Dancing, Excessive use of lip biting, Explicit Sexual Content, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff and Smut, Gay Bar, Getting Together, Go-Go Boy Ten, Go-Go Boy Winwin, Go-Go Boy Yuta, Gyms, Humor, Internal Monologue, Irresponsible use of NCT puns, Jungwoo knows exactly what he's doing, Kissing, M/M, Masturbation, Neighbors, Open Relationships, Pining, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Romance, Sex Work, Sexual Content, Sexual Conversations, Smut, Swearing, Teasing, Voyeurism, Yukhei has a pet turtle, Yukhei is t h i r s t y, Yukhei's cupcakes are delicious, camboy jungwoo, go-go boys, voyeurism kink, working out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-05 15:10:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14621325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rendawnie/pseuds/rendawnie
Summary: “Maybe you’ll bring me a cupcake? You know, when you make some with my sugar. I’d like to try your cupcakes,” Jungwoo said, and Yukhei wasn’t sure if it was sheer delirium or not, but he finally managed to summon enough inner strength to behave like the flirtatious side of himself for a moment, instead of an extra large baked potato, and he threw Jungwoo a crooked grin, nodding.“Sure, Jungwoo. I’ll bring you one with extra frosting,” Yukhei said, making sure his voice went low and rumbly in all the right ways instead of the weird ones, and then he left without waiting for Jungwoo’s reaction.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I've done this, enjoy!

Every Friday night around eight o’clock, the noises started.

They were quiet at first. Yukhei thought maybe he could hear someone whispering next door, talking softly and sweetly. That part made sense. He’d lived next door to Jungwoo for nearly a year, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jungwoo had the sweetest voice Yukhei had ever heard. Sure, they had never said more than a couple words to each other, nothing beyond “welcome to the building” when Yukhei moved in, or a stray “hi” and “hello” whenever they ended up in the elevator together. But still. He knew.

The noises would start quietly, but as time went by, they’d get louder, and change. They changed from soft and sweet words, to more prominent sounds. Almost like… almost like moaning, Yukhei thought, after the first couple weeks of exposure to them. It wasn’t that he _wanted_ to have that suspicion. It was just… Jungwoo was _moaning,_ okay?

He was almost positive Jungwoo lived by himself, and the noises were never preceded by a knock on the door or joined by a second voice, so Yukhei had determined that it had to be Jungwoo himself doing all the noise-making.

That thought alone was almost enough to drive him crazy, sometimes. Yukhei didn’t get laid that often anymore, honestly. People were usually intimidated by him. He was too tall and his voice was too gruff and deep and he had a tendency to wear his leather jacket even in the hottest summer weather, and when he wasn’t wearing it, the few tattoos he had could be seen. Probably, he was just _scary_ to the general population, Yukhei thought.

Only a few people knew the real Yukhei, the one who was sort of shy and nervous all the time, prone to talking too much. The one who was a proud father to a small turtle he’d named Captain Snappy, then thought about changing that name when he realized it might be too ridiculous, but by then, Captain Snappy was just… Captain Snappy. He couldn’t be anything else, and Yukhei wouldn’t have had him any other way.

Only a few people understood that Yukhei wasn’t scary at all. He worked in a bakery, slinging cupcakes for the masses five days a week, and, _shit_ , he loved his job. Baking made him happy; it brought out the geek in him who loved to get a new recipe exactly right, down to the ratios and timing and flavors.

But, since only a few people had bothered to learn these facts about Yukhei, and the rest of them seemed content to just ignore him and live their lives, here he was. He spent most of his evenings at home with Captain Snappy, listening to music and tooling around in his kitchen.

And sometimes, definitely not every single Friday at eight o’clock at night, listening to his cute neighbor almost absolutely getting himself off at an unreasonably heightened volume.

It was weird, because Jungwoo seemed so… innocent. Almost pure, and not at all like anyone capable of making those sorts of noises. All of their interactions had been brief, sure, but Yukhei could reasonably glean a few probable facts from them.

One, Jungwoo had a very nice job, if his fashion was anything to go by. Every time Yukhei saw him, he was dressed only in designer clothes from head to toe, from his unnecessarily expensive glasses to the soft, fuzzy pastel sweaters he tended to favor, to his impeccable footwear. He always smelled really good, too, and Yukhei knew a thing or two about smelling good, working in a bakery. Jungwoo didn’t smell bakery good, though. He smelled _rich_ good. Yukhei wondered why he only lived in a modest building like theirs.

Two, Jungwoo had the nicest smile Yukhei thought he’d ever seen. It spread over his face quickly and easily, and the sandy brown hair that was always flopping over his forehead at just the right angle only completed the pain. The _look._ The look.

Three, Jungwoo was unbelievably well-mannered and polite. Yukhei had observed him holding the door of their building open for person after person on more than one occasion, sometimes standing there for what probably felt like forever, if there was a crowd. He would just stand there and smile like he did and hold the door, as if he didn’t have anywhere else to be other than right there, exuding his extremely upsetting goodwill like some sort of angel on earth.

An angel who, every Friday night at eight o’clock, could be heard through Yukhei’s bedroom wall whimpering things like _fuck me harder, please, I need it._

Yukhei had moved in nearly a year ago, and every Friday night was torture of the worst kind, and finally, it was one Friday night too many.

To his credit, he waited until the noises died down. The sounds of a bed creaking ceased slowly, and Jungwoo wasn’t moaning anymore. Yukhei could barely hear it, but he knew, based on empirical evidence, that this was about the time when Jungwoo would spend fifteen minutes or so trying to catch his breath. Sometimes Yukhei could actually hear him trying to calm down, if he’d gone particularly hard that evening. He could hear Jungwoo giggling and breathing hard through the (apparently _very_ thin) wall they shared. Other times, he just guessed.

Sometimes, he felt a little gross about the mental dossier he was slowly curating on his very cute and not-so-innocent next door neighbor.

Finally, it was quiet next door. Yukhei slid off his own bed, walking through the living room and into the kitchen, glancing around. Trying to settle on a good excuse to knock on Jungwoo’s door.

He stared at the pile of dirty pans and measuring cups in his sink, then across the kitchen at the papers strewn over the counter, each containing his messy scrawl and half-completed, work-in-progress recipes. Yukhei stared at the long row of large porcelain containers that he kept his baking staples in, things like flour and baking powder and sugar.

_Sugar._

Yukhei yanked the lid off the sugar jar. It was full almost to the top, but never mind that. Steeling his resolve, Yukhei grabbed a clean, empty glass cup and charged towards the front door, not bothering to put on shoes or his trademark leather jacket. If he had to backtrack now, he might not go at all.

He opened his front door and peeked out into the hallway, as if he was expecting Jungwoo to be standing there, waiting for him somehow. He wasn’t, of course, so Yukhei stepped out carefully, closing his door behind him and tiptoeing the few feet between his apartment and Jungwoo’s. He thought about standing there for a moment, in front of Jungwoo’s door. Giving himself a minute to calm down. In the end, his hand betrayed him and knocked, sharp and fast and full of nervous energy. Typical.

Inside Jungwoo’s place, Yukhei heard the bubbly pop music that Jungwoo almost always turned on after his… his _whatever_ he did, lower in volume. The music quieted down, and it was replaced by a new noise, one that sounded like feet walking fast towards the front door. The very front door where Yukhei stood, fidgeting with his glass cup and waiting. The footsteps stopped, and Yukhei barely had time to collect himself before the door was thrown open, and honestly, Yukhei wanted to _die._

Of all the things he might have expected, of all the things he could have passingly prepared himself for, the sight that greeted him hadn’t even made the list.

Jungwoo stood there, leaning against the doorframe, and he was smiling. That part wasn’t unusual. While Yukhei wobbled unsteadily, trying to figure out what the fuck to do about any of this, he started making a list of the things that _were_ unusual.

One, Jungwoo was dressed only in a pair of tiny black briefs, and he didn’t seem to find that the least bit problematic, judging by the grin on his face.

Two, Jungwoo looked hazy and a bit sweaty ( _fucked out,_ Yukhei’s brain helpfully provided), but he didn’t sweat like normal people did. He kind of glowed, and it was kind of unfair. His hair was an artful mess ( _sex hair,_ Yukhei’s brain helpfully provided), he was panting just a little ( _definitely from the jog to the door and not at all from begging an unknown party to fuck him harder,_ Yukhei’s brain helpfully provided), and he held a small bowl of fresh strawberries in one hand, the other lifting one of the sweet fruits to his clearly recently-bitten lips.

It was just… it was a lot, okay?

It was a lot, and that being the case, Yukhei, in classic Yukhei fashion, reacted sort of poorly to the whole scene.

“Uh,” he started, eloquent as ever.

Jungwoo’s grin melted into a slow smirk. “Hello, Yukhei,” he said, except he didn’t actually _say_ it. He fucking _purred_ it, and Yukhei was deeply, deeply offended.

As Yukhei watched, Jungwoo balanced the bowl of strawberries under one arm, half the strawberry he’d bitten into still between his lips, and attempted to smooth his hair out with his free hand. It mostly amounted to Yukhei being treated to a a free ogle at Jungwoo’s whole chest/neck situation, and Yukhei was positive Jungwoo knew it, but dammit, he looked anyway. He couldn’t have looked away if he tried.

When Jungwoo had finished with… all of _that_ , he leaned against the doorframe again and regarded Yukhei anew. Actually, he pretty much looked Yukhei up and down multiple times, as if he’d never seen him before, and suddenly Yukhei felt like a piece of meat, and he hadn’t known that could be so very enjoyable. He held his breath, almost afraid to try and say anything else, both because it would probably be incredibly stupid, whatever he came up with, and also, it might make Jungwoo stop whatever the hell he was doing to Yukhei. Neither were things he really wanted to happen.

“Did you need something?” Jungwoo questioned, and Christ, Yukhei could actually _hear_ the hoarseness in his soft voice now. The hoarseness no doubt brought on by whatever he’d just been doing. Definitely something. Something Yukhei had no business thinking about, but absolutely couldn’t get off his mind as he attempted to keep his eyes on the empty cup in his hand and not on Jungwoo.

Finally, he pulled himself together enough to glance up one more time, and he regretted a lot of things in his life, things he’d said and done, but so help him, he’d never regretted anything as much as that one simple lift of his gaze. Jungwoo was still focused on him, eating another strawberry slowly, almost languidly. The juice from the fruit was dripping down his chin. Yukhei wondered if it would be inappropriate to just… lean forward and lick it off.

Probably. Probably, it would be.

“Um,” Yukhei said again, tightening his grip on the glass measuring cup and forcing his arms to bring it up to his chest, “I need… sugar?” He heard his voice make it into a question, whether he wanted it to be one or not. Jungwoo looked vaguely amused as he dropped a strawberry stem back into the bowl, wiping his chin with the back of his hand.

“Mmm. Sugar, huh,” Jungwoo murmured. Yukhei felt like he might be having a stroke. He concentrated all his remaining energy on not popping a boner right there in the hallway.

“Yeah, sugar. I’m… I’m, uh… I’m working on a new recipe, for work…” Yukhei started, and then he trailed off just as quickly, realizing that his white lie probably didn’t mean anything to Jungwoo, that he probably had no idea what Yukhei did for a living.

“Oh. For the bakery, right?” Jungwoo asked, sucking the last of the strawberry juice off his fingers one by one. Yukhei was having trouble. Like, a lot of it. Trouble not dying and trouble not running away and trouble not pressing Jungwoo against his own front door and--

He swallowed, hard. “Yeah. Um… you know? Where I? Work?” he asked, feeling a little desperate now, although he couldn’t decide what he was desperate for. There were still too many options.

Jungwoo smiled, leaning into the doorframe again. “Of course. I haven’t made it in yet to try your… cupcakes… but…”

Yukhei couldn’t quite stop a tiny, involuntary moan from escaping his lips. Just the way Jungwoo said _cupcakes_ was almost enough to push him over the edge right now. He said it like _cupcakes_ was the filthiest word a person could say, like those eight letters were full of all the dirty things he wanted to do to Yukhei.

Yukhei was possibly projecting. Just a little. A bit.

“Well, come in. I’ll get you some sugar, Yukhei,” Jungwoo said, and Yukhei was almost positive that all the double entendres were a hundred percent intentional, now. Jungwoo was a force to be reckoned with, apparently, hidden under all those fuzzy sweaters and glasses and uwus that Yukhei was used to seeing from him. As he stepped over the threshold of Jungwoo’s apartment and Jungwoo closed the door behind him, Yukhei started to wonder just what else Jungwoo was, besides a Huge Fucking Problem. Growing by the second, really. Just like his boner.

“You can sit on the couch,” Jungwoo whispered, and Yukhei hadn’t known he was literally standing _right behind him,_ so he tried not be too obvious about the shiver his body betrayed him with and shuffled the few steps over to Jungwoo’s leather couch, lowering himself onto it rather ungracefully, measuring cup clutched between both hands on his lap. Jungwoo reappeared in front of him, still wearing only those tiny, tiny black briefs, and cocked his hip to one side. “I’ll need that measuring cup,” he said gently, smiling down at his willing victim. At least, that’s what Yukhei was starting to think of himself as.

“Oh,” he muttered, shaking his head from side to side rapidly to clear his thoughts. “Right. Here,” he said quickly, handing the cup to Jungwoo and fervently hoping his palm hadn’t left too much sweat on the handle. Jungwoo turned and went towards the kitchen, and Yukhei made a fighting attempt not to stare at his perky ass as he went.

He failed.

A second later, the sounds of cabinets opening startled Yukhei out of his messy thoughts yet again. “I only have organic turbinado sugar!” Jungwoo called from the kitchen, sounding a bit apologetic. “I hope you don’t mind!”

Yukhei stared at the end table next to him. There was a bag of chips being held closed with nipple clamps. “I don’t mind,” he answered faintly. Maybe he _would_ faint, right there in Jungwoo’s living room, and then Jungwoo would have to take care of him, and nurse him back to consciousness. Maybe he would do it with his dick. That would be great, Yukhei thought.

It wasn’t nearly enough time for Yukhei to pull himself together before Jungwoo made his way back into the living room, full cup of sugar in his hand. “Here you go, then,” he said with another smile, one that was equally as brilliant as all the other ones Yukhei had seen on him. “One cup of sugar.”

Yukhei stood, a bit shaky on his feet, and managed to tear his eyes away from the Ben Wa balls Jungwoo had displayed right in the center of his coffee table in an ornate, decorative box. He took the sugar without a word, turning to walk to the door before he made even more of an idiot out of himself, when he heard Jungwoo’s sweet voice sound behind him. “Yukhei.”

You know how there are people who just _know_ how to say a person’s name, the minute they meet? Not the syllables, or the inflection. But they know how to _say_ it perfectly, how to let it drip off their tongue in just the right way to make the bearer of said name actually fucking collapse the minute they hear it?

No one had ever said Yukhei’s name quite as right as Jungwoo said it.

He stopped halfway to the door, turning back a little. “Yeah?”

Jungwoo bit his lip. Yukhei strongly considered tossing him on his dining table and doing that for him, next time.

“Maybe you’ll bring me a cupcake? You know, when you make some with my sugar. I’d like to try your cupcakes,” Jungwoo said, and Yukhei wasn’t sure if it was sheer delirium or not, but he finally managed to summon enough inner strength to behave like the flirtatious side of himself for a moment, instead of an extra large baked potato, and he threw Jungwoo a crooked grin, nodding.

“Sure, Jungwoo. I’ll bring you one with extra frosting,” Yukhei said, making sure his voice went low and rumbly in all the right ways instead of the weird ones, and then he left without waiting for Jungwoo’s reaction.

By the time Yukhei got back to his own apartment, he was hyperventilating. He held it together long enough to get his front door locked, slam the cup of unnecessary sugar Jungwoo had given him down on the kitchen counter, and then run back to his bedroom and flop onto his bed face first, groaning out loud to absolutely no one.

What had _happened_ to him back there? Sure, he was slightly bizarre and socially strange as a person, but he was fun! Usually! He could crack jokes and hang with the best of ‘em. People _enjoyed_ him, dammit. And yet, he’d totally tanked all of that, just because of Jungwoo and his little black briefs. It was embarrassing.

He rolled around like a useless starfish for a while, alternating between strangled groans and talking to himself, loudly. “‘I’ll bring you one with extra frosting.’ The fuck? _The fuck._ What even _am_ I?? Why am I??” Yukhei all but yelled into his pillow, banging his head into the soft fabric for good measure until he was sure his face was as red as his humiliation. He’d meant to just _flirt_ a little, not go headfirst into greasy porno territory. Jungwoo was probably still standing right where Yukhei had left him, laughing his ass off and pitying Yukhei for his utter ridiculousness as a person. Yukhei wouldn’t have blamed him, if he was.

He sighed, lifting his head after a while. The first thing his eyes landed on was Captain Snappy’s tank, with its occupant observing Yukhei impassively but lovingly. Yukhei was positive Captain Snappy felt at least a tenth of the affection Yukhei directed toward him at all times, and furthermore, that the turtle was aware when Yukhei was Going Through It (AKA, now). He picked himself up off the bed and crossed the room, bending down to take Captain Snappy out of his tank and settle back down with his pet turtle on his stomach. Yukhei petted his shell gently, moving his gaze up to the ceiling, lost in thought. So many things had happened to him in the last thirty minutes, he hardly knew where to start. _Jungwoo_ had happened to him. And now, Yukhei didn’t know what happened next.

*

Apparently, what happened next was that Yukhei spent a frantic two hours baking cupcakes with Jungwoo’s turbinado sugar, even though it was already late by the time he got home and he had work the next morning. He labored over those cupcakes, taking meticulous care to make sure they were the best ones he’d ever baked in his entire life. He used Jungwoo’s sugar in them, and on top of them, and when he was done Yukhei threw some over his shoulder for good luck, too. He packaged up a single cupcake (with extra frosting, as promised) in a small box and crept out of his apartment and next door and left it on Jungwoo’s doorstep.

(And since no one was there to see it, no one would ever know that he literally _ran_ the three feet back to his own house after he set the box down.)

After that, their schedules didn’t match up for a few days, so Yukhei didn’t get a chance to find out if Jungwoo liked his cupcake. It wasn’t like he could just _go over there_ and ask, after all. The last time he did that, it was catastrophic for his soul and his crotch. So, he wasn’t _avoiding_ Jungwoo, per se, Yukhei figured. He was just going out of his way to make sure that they didn’t encounter each other while Jungwoo was seventy-five percent naked again unless Yukhei was in a similar state of clotheslessness. Preferably in one of their bedrooms with the lights all low and moody. And boners. Can’t forget about the boners.

Or the extra frosting.

So anyway, it was a few days before Yukhei saw Jungwoo again, and in those few days, he’d become increasingly _itchy._ Not like, bug bite itchy. More like… he had a proverbial, internal itch, and it needed scratching.

Horny, okay? Yukhei was horny. And it was pissing him off.

That’s how he ended up the gym of his building at one in the morning, earbuds stuffed firmly in his ears. He always enjoyed working out and keeping himself in shape, and the act of exercise tended to be one of the only things that could truly relax him. He lifted some weights, did a whole bunch of crunches on the mats spread across the small gym, and then Yukhei fired up the treadmill and got to running.

He’d been at it for a good fifteen minutes, tuning out everything except the music in his ears and the feeling of his shoes slapping the treadmill in a steady, increasing rhythm, when Yukhei turned his head to the side for just a moment, and promptly went down face first on the treadmill, sliding off the machine into a messy pile on the floor.

While he was down there, Yukhei used the time to think some more, except now, he had a host of new thoughts.

What the _fuck_ was Jungwoo doing in the gym at one in the morning? Only insane, insomnia-ridden people conducted themselves in such a ludicrous manner. Yukhei would know.

Also, what the fuck was Jungwoo doing just sitting on a bench across the gym, sizing Yukhei up like he was trying to figure out how to break him down? Or fuck him up, literally? Yukhei very much wanted to tell him that it wasn’t all that difficult, but he was having enough issues unfolding his gangly limbs at the foot of the treadmill, as it was.

Yukhei wondered how long Jungwoo had been there, watching him while he was zoned out. He wondered if Jungwoo would still be there when he was no longer a sad, sweaty pretzel sprawled on the weird, rubber gym floor. He wasn’t sure if he wanted him to be there, or not.

In the process of falling, Yukhei’s earbuds had come loose and now laid across his chest as he turned himself over, still blasting Girls Generation somehow. Yukhei thought maybe he should be embarrassed about that, but then he remembered Jungwoo’s similarly dubious choices in post-masturbatory music, and he decided not to care. Besides, he already had enough courses of humiliation in the five-star dinner of embarrassment he was currently serving up.

He sighed, gathering himself as much as he could, and stood _very_ casually. Jungwoo was still there, sitting on the nearby bench, looking mildly concerned. Yukhei gave him a quick nod. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”

Jungwoo chuckled, getting up. “I’m fine. How are _you,_ Yukhei?” he asked, crossing the room slowly. At least he was slightly more dressed, this time. Yukhei could handle gym shorts and a tank top. Probably.

Yukhei shrugged, gathering up his tangled earbuds with a short, unbothered sniff of his nose. “Oh, y’know. Just. Life. Whatnot,” he answered, mentally slapping himself for whatever those words were supposed to mean.

It was only a few more seconds before Jungwoo was right next to him. Like, literally _two inches_ away from Yukhei’s face. Close enough for Yukhei to almost smell his fancy cologne over the prominent scent of his own sweat.

“You sure you’re okay?” Jungwoo questioned, still regarding Yukhei with amused concern. “That looked like a pretty nasty fall.”

Yukhei forced out a chuckle, turning off “The Boys” before his favorite song could betray him further and shoving his phone and earbuds into his gym bag. “I’m fine. You just surprised me. I didn’t expect anyone else to be here this late.”

Jungwoo smiled a little regretfully. “I couldn’t sleep. I don’t sleep very well.”

Yukhei nodded in understanding. “Yeah.”

The smile on Jungwoo’s face turned a bit brighter. “Anyway, wanna spot me?”

_No. That’s actually the last thing I want to do. I want to go home and sleep off the latest in my long series of failures alone in my apartment._

Yukhei took a breath. “Okay.”

Five minutes later, Jungwoo was laying underneath Yukhei as he loomed over him, watching as Jungwoo lifted weights easily that should have been impossible for someone so slender. Yukhei was about sixty percent amazed, and forty percent turned on. Or, the other way around. Something like that. Blessedly, Jungwoo didn’t try to talk too much while he exercised, and Yukhei had a very convenient excuse to just stare at him, so they did that for a while, Jungwoo lifting and Yukhei staring, and it was only slightly less awkward than Yukhei had expected it to be.

“That cupcake was delicious,” Jungwoo said after a few minutes, giving Yukhei a grin. “I wanted to tell you, but I haven’t seen you in a while.”

_That’s because I was avoiding you for my own sanity._

“I’ve been busy,” Yukhei replied lamely, helping Jungwoo re-seat the weights he’d been lifting. Jungwoo didn’t sit up just yet. He just laid on his back and gazed up at Yukhei.

“Right. Me too,” Jungwoo said, and Yukhei could hear the smirk in his voice just as much as he could see it on his face, and it made him all wobbly again, so he backed up a few steps, and Jungwoo straightened up a moment later, regarding him thoughtfully.

“I like you, Yukhei,” he said finally. “You’re weird.”

Yukhei blushed. “Thanks, I guess.”

Jungwoo giggled softly, wiping his face with a towel. “It was a compliment.”

Yukhei stared down at his feet. One of his shoes was untied. He sort of hated that Jungwoo made him like this, made him unable to call upon his normally endless reserves of fuckboi antics, because even if he didn’t have many close friends since moving to this town and into this building, he’d kept his ability to pull guys whenever he wanted. He supposed the reason he hadn’t wanted to, in the last few months even before they “met” properly, might have had more to do with his neighbor than he was prepared to entertain.

“Yukhei?” Jungwoo said again. “My back’s really killing me today. Would you give me a massage?”

It was then that Yukhei’s brain sort of gave up.

“Uh. Um. I don’t. I’m not really. I mean, I’m not a masseuse or anything, I don’t know how to do… y’know, the things, so--”

Jungwoo cut him off. “It’s fine. I just. I noticed your hands are like, fucking _huge,_ and I’m pretty sure they’ll feel good even if you suck at it. Just… please?”

And just like that, even without the “please” Jungwoo threw on the end, Yukhei gave in.

Thirty seconds wasn’t nearly enough time for Yukhei to prepare himself for what was about to happen, and yet, that was all the time he got before Jungwoo was laying on his stomach on the lone physical therapy table in the room, and Yukhei was straddling him, because Jungwoo had told him to.

Well, he wasn’t straddling him _all the way,_ because he was petrified that if he did, Jungwoo would feel exactly how much this whole situation was affecting him. He was sort of hovering a few inches above Jungwoo’s body, grasping at random parts of what he thought were probably the appropriate muscles and trying to do whatever he could. He kneaded and poked at Jungwoo’s smooth skin, and Jungwoo was quiet the whole way through it, until he wasn’t.

The moan Jungwoo let out when Yukhei hit just the right spot was nothing less than _sinful._ In fact, it was almost an exact replication of the noises Yukhei had been hearing from Jungwoo’s apartment, every Friday night at eight o’clock, for months, except that now, there was no wall between them to muffle it. Yukhei heard every squeak and gasp in it, and it knocked the wind out of him, knocked him right off Jungwoo and onto his feet beside the table again.

“Okay. Well. Cool. I think that went well. Hope it helped. I’m just gonna… I’m gonna go, all right?” Yukhei fumbled the words out while he fumbled with his bag and its contents, slinging it over his shoulder as Jungwoo sat up slowly, looking relieved and confused and always, _always_ just a little bit amused, all at the same time.

“I’m sorry. I can’t help the sounds I make sometimes. It just felt so good…” Jungwoo said softly, his large eyes burning holes into Yukhei.

Yukhei raked a hand through his messy hair, and he was sure it was even messier after that, but he had lost the ability to care. “No, it wasn’t that. That was… that was… it was, uh. Fine. It was fine. It’s just…” Yukhei was still scrambling, and he knew it was obvious. “It’s just really late and I’m suddenly tired and I’m just. I’m gonna go upstairs and go to bed. I’ll see you around, Jungwoo.”

With that, Yukhei nearly ran out of the gym and to the bank of elevators in the lobby, leaving without seeing Jungwoo’s reaction to his odd behavior for the second time in a week.

He wasn’t tired. He wasn’t tired at all. As Yukhei got on the elevator that had thankfully been waiting on the ground floor, he could feel exactly what he was, growing bigger by the minute between his legs. Jungwoo was fucking _killing_ him, and now, more than ever, Yukhei realized that he absolutely fucking knew it.

By the time Yukhei let himself back into his apartment, there was a rather obvious tent in his gym shorts. Yukhei was at a loss. He wasn’t really good at masturbating without something to interact with, something to keep all the parts of his brain that were still usable stimulated. It never worked when he just tried to rub one out in the deafening silence of his apartment. So, even though it had been ages since he’d done it, Yukhei opened his laptop and navigated to one of his old favorite sites.

Yukhei sighed, staring at the familiar logo. When he’d first moved to this new city, and he was lonely and bored all the time, he filled his abundant free time with camboy shows. Not starring in them, mind you. Viewing. It was a way to blow off steam, a way to calm the chaotic thoughts that were always slamming into each other in his mind. He’d broken himself of the habit after a while, actually started leaving the house and participating in life in his new home city, but here he was again, and it was for a completely different reason.

 _What do you want to see today?,_ blinked the letters at the top of the screen, next to the search box. Yukhei snorted softly, raising his fingers to the keyboard. He tried to think of anything else, anything that he could input into that little box that would erase the facts of his current situation. It didn’t work.

 

_J-U-N-G-W-O-O._

 

Yukhei rolled his eyes and pressed enter, just because. Nothing was going to come up in the results, he was positive.

 

_1 show is about to go live. Join the room?_

 

“Ugh,” Yukhei grunted in vague dismay, smashing the _OK_ button. Just because. Maybe a different Jungwoo would be helpful. Take his mind off of things. Or maybe, it would just cause him to develop a bizarre and inconvenient fetish for all guys named Jungwoo. Whatever.

A new tab opened in his browser as he entered the room, the chat going down the right side of the screen already buzzing with comments and anticipation. It seemed that this particular Jungwoo was pretty popular. Whether or not he’d be what Yukhei needed, still remained to be seen.

It was another few minutes of waiting before the black, blank screen fuzzed to life, revealing a large, empty bed. It was made up with pink silk sheets, a couple candles casting a soft glow around the dimly lit bedroom. Yukhei waited. He still wasn’t sure if he was staying. He scanned the chat, arms crossed over his chest as time ticked by. People were making the typical lewd comments, of course. It seemed like a lot of them were repeat viewers. Yukhei could see the top spenders listed first, at least twenty of them. This guy clearly pulled in a lot of revenue. Yukhei didn’t get his own wallet out, just yet.

Finally, Yukhei heard the sound of a door opening and closing on the other end of the stream. He shifted in his chair uncomfortably. He was about halfway to hard, and had been since he left the gym, and it was starting to hurt. He stared at the clock on the bottom right of his laptop screen, until a soft, sweet, familiar voice nearly knocked the breath from his lungs.

“Hi, everyone. Sorry I’m late.”

Yukhei’s eyes flew up to the center of the screen in a panic, and when he saw who was on it, he was suddenly way past half hard.

At least, it appeared he wouldn’t have to suffer the indignity of developing a fetish for _all_ Jungwoos. Just the one, really. The one next door.

The one who was curled up on his bed on Yukhei’s screen, smiling a bit into the camera, looking just a little sweaty already ( _probably from running back to his apartment from the gym where he’d just been begging Yukhei for a massage and rewarding him with pure vocal sin for his efforts_ , Yukhei’s brain helpfully provided) and dressed, once again, in nothing but a pair of black briefs.

_  
_

_YOU WILL BE REMOVED FROM THIS ROOM IF PAYMENT IS NOT RECEIVED IN 30 SECONDS. 30. 29. 28. 27._

 

Yukhei all but threw himself off the chair, digging through the jeans he’d tossed onto his bed before changing into gym clothes for his wallet. He managed to liberate it somewhat frantically, and the countdown was at nineteen seconds when Yukhei jammed the payment button in the center of the screen and hunted and pecked all his info into the appropriate boxes, messing up his credit card number twice in his haste and leaving himself only two seconds to spare by the time he finally succeeded.

Captain Snappy watched him stoically while he panicked, and when Yukhei turned his head just a little to glance at his pet turtle, he could swear he saw a hint of disappointment through the stoicism. Yukhei frowned. “Shut up, man. This is a judgment-free zone.”

When he’d finally regained access to Jungwoo’s show, Yukhei stood next to his computer chair for a moment, fists raised in the air in silent victory, even though no one was there to see him to do it, and then he shoved his gym shorts down his legs and his boxers along with them, and sat his bare ass back down to enjoy the show.

(He tried not to feel weird about it. He didn’t think Jungwoo would want him to feel weird about it.)

Belatedly, he decided to strip off his damp, slightly smelly t-shirt as well. He wanted to be properly un-attired for this.

Yukhei tuned back into the show just in time to listen to Jungwoo answering some comments in the chat as he laid on his side on the bed, idly pressing his palm to the bulge in his briefs as he talked. It made him end every couple of sentences with a soft, needy moan. It made Yukhei _ache._

“I had to run back up here from the gym. There was a boy there...“ Jungwoo murmured, biting his lip and smiling. Yukhei swallowed so hard he thought Jungwoo might actually be able to hear it from his apartment, through the wall separating them.

_Shit. He’s doing this right next door, right this second. What if I just... went over--_

“I’ve seen him around for months. He’s actually…” Jungwoo trailed off, giggling quietly. “He’s my next door neighbor. What a cliche, right?”

Yukhei let out a completely undignified whine, wrapping his hand around his swollen cock. He didn’t care if Jungwoo was just talking, wasn’t even really _doing_ anything yet. Apparently, Jungwoo’s _existence_ was enough to get him going, at this point.

Also, Jungwoo was talking about _him._ Yukhei. Yukhei was the neighbor boy in question. That might have been helping. Unconfirmed.

“Anyway, he... he came over a few days ago, to borrow some sugar,” Jungwoo continued, and when Yukhei’s eyes wandered down, the tip of Jungwoo’s pink cock was peeking out of his briefs. Yukhei wondered if it was intentional, but then he glanced up and saw the look in Jungwoo’s own eyes. It was definitely intentional.

Jungwoo chuckled, idly tracing a finger around the head of his cock, pressing it into the slit every few circles. Every time he did it, Yukhei could see him shiver, just a little. He was learning so much, honestly. Maybe by the time this show was over, he would know exactly how to dismantle Jungwoo and fuck him into a quivering mess, if given the opportunity. It was a heady thought. Yukhei squeezed his shaft, starting to stroke it. Slowly. Lazily. Slow enough that he could still pay attention, for the moment.

“It was right after I’d finished a show for you all, and I wasn’t even dressed. But I saw him through the peephole and I just thought... fuck it, y’know? Let’s see what happens,” Jungwoo said, sitting up enough to slide his briefs down and turn away from the camera, digging around for something just out of frame. While he did, Yukhei got a great view of his now-exposed backside. It looked... spankable. Yukhei wanted to spank Jungwoo, kind of, a little. He wanted a lot of things.

Jungwoo seemed to find what he was looking for, and he straightened back up, kicking his briefs onto the floor and glancing over his shoulder at the camera. Even though it was dark in Jungwoo’s bedroom, it was a strategic darkness, one that left no doubt in Yukhei’s mind that Jungwoo currently had a not-entirely-small plug between his lips, sucking some wetness onto it. Yukhei sincerely hoped he was going to use lube, as well. _Something_ had to be realistic about Jungwoo, after all. Everything Yukhei had seen so far had been an absolute, incredible fantasy.

“I actually had this little guy between my cheeks the whole time we talked. I don’t think he realized,” Jungwoo admitted, laughing softly, and then the laugh turned to a gasp as he spread his cheeks and fitted the plug into place easily, still laughing when he regained a bit of his composure. “I know, I know. You guys love watching me prep. But I did it earlier, before the gym! I was just so worked up about him, I couldn’t help it…”

Yukhei shifted his eyes to the ceiling for a moment, taking deep inhales into his nose and letting them out through his mouth. “Jesus fucking _Christ,_ ” he muttered, his hand picking up speed without permission. Without _conscious_ permission, at least.

“I think I made him nervous. I think I…” Jungwoo’s words stuttered to a halt as he began to rock back onto the plug, moaning, but he went on a second later. “I think I _make_ him nervous. I like that,” Jungwoo chuckled breathlessly, finally starting to drag his fist up and down his cock in earnest, with purpose.

Jungwoo stopped talking so much after that, even though Yukhei would have liked to hear the rest of the story. Later. When he could focus on it. When he could focus on anything besides the thick warmth in his hand, and its immediate need for relief. Jungwoo stopped talking, but he wasn’t quiet. Yukhei could finally see his face when he made the noises. He could see every scrunch of Jungwoo’s nose and every unsteady breath rising in his chest. He could see the way Jungwoo dragged his nails down that chest, slow and hard until they left pink stripes across his honey-colored skin.

Yukhei memorized everything as best he could. He learned the things Jungwoo liked, stored them away for later in his brain. He changed his pace to match Jungwoo’s, so they were stroking together. Almost. Close enough. Yukhei was used to getting off fast and moving on with the next thing in his life. Jungwoo took his time. Yukhei supposed he was getting paid by the minute, so that made sense. But it was goddamned torture.

It took Jungwoo nearly thirty minutes in total to cum, and by the time he did, many more toys were in play and Jungwoo’s perfect, smooth skin was covered in scratches and slaps and his lips were swollen from being bitten and he was a beautiful mess, and when he finally shot off for the camera, Yukhei did too.

In fact, Yukhei came so hard that he almost blacked out. He wasn’t used to the intensity of holding himself back, and frankly he wasn’t sure he liked it any better, but _god,_ he liked Jungwoo. He fucking _wanted_ Jungwoo.

Jungwoo laid on his back when it was all over, breathing hard, one arm slung over his eyes as the camera continued to film him. Yukhei had been ignoring all the comments from his other viewers, and he decided to keep doing that, for his own sanity. He had enough comments banging around in his mind to last him. Instead, he leaned back in his old chair and watched Jungwoo, just watched him now while he recovered. He wanted to see it in person. He could still go over--

_No. Bad idea. You’re all sticky and gross._

Yukhei wasn’t exactly sure when his body finally gave up and fell into a deep sleep. He didn’t remember getting into his bed, either. He just watched Jungwoo breathe and exist until maybe he was dreaming it, instead, and when he woke up to sunlight streaming through his bedroom window, his laptop was still open.

*

Look, Yukhei wasn’t _trying_ to avoid Jungwoo on purpose (again), okay? It was just working out that way. Their schedules didn’t sync up, or something. Also Yukhei thought he might have pulled a hamstring or something during the whole Camboy Jungwoo Experience, and he was maybe kind of avoiding the gym in the basement of their apartment building. He’d admit to that much.

He didn’t see Jungwoo for a week, after he saw _all of Jungwoo,_ live, naked, and on camera. It definitely wasn’t because he’d taken to peeking his head out of the door when he left for work in the morning before slipping his whole body out of it, just to make sure certain people ( _a certain person_ ) weren’t in the hallway. Not at all. It also didn’t have anything to do with the way that, when Yukhei rode the elevator up to their floor when he came home in the evenings, if Jungwoo was waiting for a ride down when the door started to open, he would press the button to close the door right back up as fast as he could and take himself a couple floors further, then use the stairs instead. That was purely for all the cardio he was missing out on, not going to the gym.

Clearly, their schedules were just different.

Totally.

Their schedules were so different, in fact, that Yukhei felt just fine about spending his Friday night at home, doing absolutely nothing. He’d waited to come back until almost nine, just so he would be sure that Jungwoo’s scheduled show would be finished. He wouldn’t have to be confronted with any noises, ones that might possibly send him into fits of anxiety, and/or desperate masturbation.

He’d been laying on his couch for an hour with a movie playing in the background, ignoring it in favor of a mindless game on his phone, when there was a knock on Yukhei’s door.

Yukhei frowned, lowering his phone enough to make eye contact with the entrance to his apartment. He didn’t have any friends, not really. He had acquaintances, mostly, and one-date-stands that he never saw again. Whoever was at his door was probably looking for someone else. Another knock sounded as Yukhei debated his options.

He could get up and open it, and tell whoever was on the other side that they were at the wrong place, that any sort of excitement or companionship was elsewhere.

He could ignore it, and hope it went away. That was working really well for his Jungwoo Problem, so far. Really well.

There was a third knock, and Yukhei frowned harder, but he put his phone down on the coffee table next to the couch and got up, crossing the floor barefoot towards the front door. He thought about checking through the peephole fleetingly, but he was so confident that this was all an egregious mistake that he decided it wasn’t worth it.

It was _definitely_ an egregious mistake on his part.

When Yukhei opened the door, stopping about halfway so the stranger waiting there would hopefully get the idea that they were unwelcome, Jungwoo was standing on the other side, wearing skintight jeans, a designer t-shirt with a nice blazer on top ( _probably purchased with his copious camboy funds,_ Yukhei’s brain helpfully provided), and a determined smile.

Yukhei almost closed the door again. But that might have been a little rude, he supposed.

Jungwoo flashed him a bigger grin. “Hi. Get dressed. We’re going out,” Jungwoo ordered, and then he pushed past Yukhei and into his apartment without waiting for a greeting or an invitation. By the time Yukhei pulled himself together enough to react, Jungwoo had already located his bedroom and his closet, and as Yukhei approached the room cautiously, he could see shirts and pants and hats flying out of said closet as Jungwoo tossed them over his shoulder and into the middle of the room, murmuring to himself as he did.

Yukhei took a step into his bedroom, keeping to the wall as he inched further and further in. Trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and whether or not he should be amenable to it, or listen to his common sense and tell Jungwoo to leave, immediately, so he could get back to doing all that nothing with his evening.

Jungwoo turned around to address Yukhei, now standing awkwardly near his bed. He had a button-down shirt in his hands and a squint in his eyes, holding it up to Yukhei’s chest as he closed the distance between them. Yukhei barely felt the fabric press against him. He was too busy staring down at Jungwoo in mild shock. Jungwoo smelled like vanilla. Yukhei found that richly ironic, considering his… incredibly _not_ vanilla profession. If anyone should smell like vanilla here, it was Wong Extra-Frosting Yukhei.

“Hmm,” Jungwoo mused critically. “This might work…”

Yukhei batted the shirt in Jungwoo’s hands away gently. “Jungwoo. What…?” he started, but Jungwoo cut him off.

“You can’t avoid me forever, Yukhei,” was all he said, before he turned and went back into Yukhei’s closet to search for another option.

Yukhei sighed, sitting on the bed and rubbing at his eyes. He wasn’t really tired. He was just… a lot of things, really. Too many things, at the moment.

He licked his lips, trying to think of what to say. “I’m not _avoiding_ you,” he tried finally, staring at his bare feet on the floor. “I’m just… busy.”

In his closet, Jungwoo snorted before he resurfaced with another shirt, one that was almost identical to the previous one. Yukhei didn’t exactly cultivate a lot of variety in his wardrobe of black on black on black on leather and denim.

“You are. You _are_ avoiding me, and I don’t like it. You need to get out of the house, anyway. You can meet my friends. They’ll like you,” Jungwoo said firmly, scrutinizing this latest black button-down and nodding after a moment. Yukhei wondered if all of Jungwoo’s friends were camboys, too. He wondered when he should tell Jungwoo that he knew what he did for a living. _If_ he should tell him.

“Here,” Jungwoo decided, tossing the shirt in his hands at Yukhei. It hit him in the face, because he wasn’t paying attention, but Jungwoo was already back in the closet before Yukhei could mention it. He sighed again, pulling the lightweight fabric off his nose. He was about to come up with something, an excuse, anything to avoid this, but Jungwoo tossed a pair of jeans out of the closet and it hit Yukhei in the face again, and by the time he recovered from that, Jungwoo was standing in the middle of Yukhei’s bedroom with his hands on his hips and he was smiling again. A sweet smile. One that made Yukhei’s heart a little fluttery.

“Just put the clothes on, Yukhei. It’ll be fun, I promise,” Jungwoo said, his voice taking on a higher pitch near the end. Almost a whine. A beg. Two things Yukhei knew that he was very good at, apparently in almost any circumstance. And so, he gave up.

“All right,” Yukhei replied. “Just let me change.” He got up off the bed, expecting Jungwoo to leave. He didn’t. He just stood there, watching.

Yukhei rolled his eyes. “Can you let me change?” he asked, even though he was positive he knew the answer he would get.

Jungwoo smirked. “I’m not stopping you.” _There it is._

Yukhei narrowly resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Jungwoo, gathered his clothes into his arms, and strode into his tiny closet with as much dignity as he could, pulling the door shut behind him.

*

Fifteen minutes later, Yukhei and Jungwoo were crammed into the backseat of an impossibly tiny cab that Jungwoo had hailed, zooming across town to… wherever they were going. Yukhei hadn’t asked. He had no idea where Jungwoo spent his time, what kind of places he went to. He’d thought Jungwoo was all innocence and big eyes, before. _Before._ Now, he wouldn’t have been surprised if they ended up at a grimy, seedy hardcore S &M club in the worst part of town, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if Jungwoo knew everyone there.

As it turned out, their destination was somewhere in the middle of innocence and grime, and in the heart of downtown, instead of the side of the city that even a Large Boy™ like Yukhei felt uncomfortable being in without some sort of buddy system in place.

Their destination was one that Yukhei had heard about, from idle chatter between his regular customers at work and mentions online.

The hottest gay bar in town was called Climax, and Yukhei had once thought he had a few too many scruples to visit any place called Climax, but halfway through the journey there, when Jungwoo finally told him where they were going, he’d also slid his hand up Yukhei’s thigh as he whispered the words into Yukhei’s ear, and after that, Yukhei might have agreed to just about anything Jungwoo said. Climax it was, apparently.

Yukhei knew when they were almost there, because he could see the lights and hear the bass thump nearly a block away. It had been a long time since he went to a real, live club. He hoped he still remembered what to do, that Jungwoo wouldn’t make him forget. Thankfully, he’d remembered to grab his wallet at the last minute, so he could at least get himself a couple drinks to help matters.

The cab dumped them off at the curb, and Jungwoo pulled Yukhei towards the front of the long line instead of the back, where a gruff-looking bouncer gave them a nod and waved them in ahead of everyone else, and for free.

Yukhei decided not to be surprised about anything else for the rest of the night.

He accepted the wall of sound that hit him the minute they walked into the main room as nonchalantly as he could, with only a minimal amount of involuntary cringing. Jungwoo led him by the hand as they wove through the throngs of people in little clumps spread across the dance floor, until they got to the bar. It was marginally quieter there, somehow, and Yukhei was grateful. As they approached, Jungwoo squeezed Yukhei’s hand and let it go, and Yukhei was just starting to miss the sensation of their palms pressed together, when Jungwoo slipped his palm into Yukhei’s back pocket instead and leaned against the bar casually, eyeing the handsome bartender up and down.

Yukhei tried to be casual, too. He really did. But Jungwoo was _literally_ feeling him up, and it was making certain parts of him _down there_ react in a very _un_ -casual manner. He leaned against the bar next to Jungwoo, mostly because they were still connected at the back of Yukhei’s jeans and he didn’t really have a choice, and hoped he looked as calm as he was trying to.

“Doyoung. How’ve you been, babe?” Jungwoo asked the bartender with a lazy grin, and the guy rolled his eyes with amusement.

“Since last night? The same,” he answered, chuckling a little, pushing his rolled up sleeves up more as he twirled bottles around with a dizzying quickness, mixing and pouring drinks smoother than Yukhei had ever seen anyone do it. It was impressive, honestly.

Jungwoo giggled, sliding onto a barstool, and he finally took his hand out of Yukhei’s pocket so that Yukhei could do the same next to him. “Where’s the boyfriend tonight?” he questioned, reaching over the bar to steal a cherry out of a small plastic container and pop it in his mouth, rolling it around from cheek to cheek, earning a disapproving glance from Doyoung and a (thankfully) barely audible moan from Yukhei.

Doyoung jerked his head to the right of where they sat, and Yukhei noticed the slender, flame-haired guy draped onto a stool for the first time. “Right here, being cut the fuck off,” Doyoung replied, shaking his head in slight disapproval. “He’s had his one fruity, inconsequential drink, you know that’s all he can handle.”

Jungwoo laughed, getting up to give the tipsy boy a quick backhug, making him turn his head and reward Jungwoo with a slightly loopy smile. “Hi, Taeyongie!” Jungwoo purred, ruffling the boy’s hair affectionately.

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Taeyong began, after a moment of trying to gather himself. “Tell him…” he started, jabbing an indignant finger in Doyoung’s direction, “tell him that I can _totally_ handle more than one drink. I’m not a lightweight, I swear,” Taeyong protested, focusing on Doyoung a little shakily, who was just watching with arms crossed, shaking his head in loving dismay.

Jungwoo giggled some more as he sat back down next to Yukhei. “Sorry, Taeyongie. I cannot tell a lie.”

Taeyong just groaned and put his head down on the not-entirely-sanitary fake wood. Yukhei thought maybe he was just going to take a nap right there at the bar. Doyoung seemed content enough to watch over him.

“The usual, Jungwoo?” Doyoung asked, and Jungwoo nodded happily. Doyoung shifted his eyes to Yukhei, raising one eyebrow. “And who’s this?”

Yukhei opened his mouth to answer, but Jungwoo beat him to it. “This is Yukhei. He lives next door to me!” Jungwoo trilled as Doyoung set a shot glass and a mixed drink in front of him. Doyoung’s forearms were becoming a bit of a Problem, suddenly. Mixing drinks apparently flexed his muscles in just the right ways to make Yukhei a little weak. Not as weak as he was for Jungwoo’s... everything, however.

A look of recognition crossed Doyoung’s face. “ _Ohhhh,_ right. The one you’ve been talking about,” he said with a sly grin in Yukhei’s direction, one that Yukhei was too busy flipping the _fuck_ out to really process and return.

_Jungwoo talked about him._

_Other people knew about him because Jungwoo talked about him._

_What did it mean??_

“Well, then. What’ll you have, Yukhei?” Doyoung asked with a more professional smile, and Yukhei frowned a little, digging for his wallet and rifling through the bills inside.

“How much is a beer?” he asked after a moment, and Doyoung chuckled.

“Jungwoo’s… friends… don’t pay for drinks. What’ll you have?” he repeated.

Yukhei glanced at Jungwoo next to him, cherry stem between his teeth and a satisfied smirk across his face now. He looked at the drinks lined up in front of Jungwoo. He didn’t know what they were, but Yukhei lifted his eyes to Doyoung again and said, “The same.”

It was less than a minute before Yukhei had two glasses in front of him identical to Jungwoo’s, one shot and one drink.

Jungwoo picked up his shot glass and motioned for Yukhei to do the same. The smile on Jungwoo’s face was sweet again, and Yukhei was marveling at how quickly it went back and forth, how many different facets of Jungwoo’s personality existed when just several weeks ago he’d thought there were only two (actual angel and the goddamn devil), when Jungwoo clinked their shot glasses together and said, “Drink up, sweetheart,” and so Yukhei did.

He regretted it sort of instantly, mostly because he spent the next few seconds after the burning liquid went down his throat trying valiantly to pretend like he didn’t want to throw it right back up, and when he’d finally conquered that feeling, Yukhei managed to get by with only one short cough before he stared at Jungwoo, who’d already drained his mixed drink, too. “Was that fucking _tequila_?” Yukhei wheezed incredulously. “Why didn’t you warn me??”

Jungwoo giggled. “You didn’t ask.”

Yukhei couldn’t really argue with that.

Jungwoo was scanning the room while Yukhei tried to take the tiniest sips possible of what he figured out was a vodka tonic, filling up his other glass. He was usually a pretty good drinker, but this was becoming mildly embarrassing. He was going to have to get his shit together, fast, if he was going to come out of this night feeling like anything but a failure. Yukhei didn’t like losing.

“Who’s here tonight, Doyoungie?” Jungwoo asked the bartender while he washed out empty glasses, lining them up carefully, ready to be filled with new drinks.

Doyoung shrugged. “Everyone, basically. Johnny’s up in the DJ booth as usual, Ten, Yuta and Sicheng are on the pedestals, and Taeil’s in the corner pining over Sicheng. Nothing shocking there.”

Yukhei tried to follow everywhere Jungwoo’s eyes darted as Doyoung said all the names, so he could start to figure out who was who. The tequila was already a little on top of him, but he worked through it enough to sort the cast of characters out once Jungwoo leaned over and repeated everything to him. He had to say it twice, actually, because the first time Yukhei was too distracted by his mouth to really absorb the words coming out of it.

They stayed at the bar until Yukhei had managed to finish his first drink, and Jungwoo was already three shots down and somehow no worse for the wear when he hopped off his stool and tugged at Yukhei’s belt loops until he got off his chair a little less gracefully, and they made their way to the dance floor.

Yukhei tried to focus only on Jungwoo as they found a place near the middle of the floor. It helped him tune out the ridiculously loud music with it’s thumping bass careening around every inch of the club, and also, he just liked focusing on Jungwoo, honestly. Shut up.

Jungwoo let go of Yukhei’s hand once they were facing each other in their little spot, and began to dance. He was good at certain moves, Yukhei noticed. Mostly ones involving his hips, and obscene gyrations thereof. Yukhei made a fighting effort not to just stare, while he sort of swayed slowly. He wasn’t the best dancer, and he didn’t want to end up looking like a total idiot, so he stuck to what he knew. However, it appeared that Jungwoo wasn’t having any of it.

Before Yukhei could comprehend what was happening, Jungwoo’s back was pressed against his chest, and his back _side_ was pressed against the front of Yukhei’s jeans, and good _god,_ he was actually _grinding._ He was grinding on Yukhei, right there in the middle of the dance floor.

An hour earlier, Yukhei had been laying on his couch, completely alone and somewhat content with that, no plans for the evening in sight. What a difference sixty minutes makes.

Yukhei continued with his slightly awkward dance moves, looking around at the pedestals set up in each corner of the dance floor instead of down at Jungwoo. Now, instead of wanting to focus on only his dance partner, Yukhei was worried that if he did that, it would only lead places that he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to visit, yet. Grinding was one thing. Actually dragging Jungwoo somewhere and leaving bite marks all down his long neck was quite another.

So, he looked at the pedestals instead, at the go-go boys he’d heard bits and pieces about so far. He was fairly sure that it was Yuta on the pedestal nearest he and Jungwoo, and judging by the way he was doing not a lot of dancing and a whole lot of flirting instead, he was possibly the most lethal of all them, his upsettingly perfect abs drawing just about every boy’s attention in a twenty meter radius, including Yukhei’s. But then…

Ten occupied the pedestal opposite from Yuta, and it only took a casual glance in his direction for Yukhei to determine that he was clearly the best dancer of them all. He had the body for it -- taut, but strong and well-built. His moves were incredible, sensual and powerful all at once, and the silver holographic hot pants he was wearing while _doing_ those moves were only serving to emphasize that point. Yukhei figured that was probably part of his plan. It was a good plan. Yukhei liked it.

So far, he’d figured out that Yuta was an unabashed flirt and Ten was a dangerous dancer. That just left…

Yukhei trained his eyes across the room, where Sicheng was dancing with a small crowd gathered around his pedestal. Yukhei squinted a little, looking closer, and he could just about make out the silhouette of a guy clutching his drink near the back of Sicheng’s audience, gazing up at Sicheng with obvious want dripping from him. _That must be Taeil._ Without even being anywhere near the scene, Yukhei could read Taeil’s posture clearly, could understand the way he stood just far enough away from the rest of the group to separate himself from it. The way he glanced down every so often and seemed to sigh longingly with his whole body.

Yukhei also noticed that Sicheng never made eye contact with anyone but Taeil, and in turn, Taeil's own eyes seemed to dart up and down Sicheng’s exposed torso, not sure whether to focus on his abs, chest, eyes, tongue, or neck. The stupid, romantic side of Yukhei kind of hoped things would work out for the two of them eventually, but this wasn’t a place for his stupid, romantic side. The one that hardly anybody knew existed.

There was definitely no room for his stupid, romantic side between he and Jungwoo, at the moment. Jungwoo was making sure of that, keeping his body as close as he could to Yukhei, even though they had plenty of room and he didn’t really need to. Yukhei didn’t want to think about what that meant. He didn’t want to think at _all,_ right then. He was out for the first time in a very long time, and he wanted to have fun. He wanted to show Jungwoo that he wasn’t just a weirdo who’d been (absolutely not) avoiding him for weeks, for reasons that were too complicated to explain.

It wasn’t that complicated. Yukhei knew that. It was just... everyone has their coping mechanisms, all right?

The first song Yukhei and Jungwoo had danced to ended, and Jungwoo smiled up at Yukhei and tugged on the collar of his button-down until Yukhei leaned down a little, letting Jungwoo purr into his ear. “Will you get me another drink, Yukhei?”

Yukhei liked how Jungwoo said his name so often, how he started and ended sentences with it sometimes. It felt intimate, like they were closer than Yukhei knew they actually were. Like they were as close as he wanted them to _be._

He swallowed hard. Jungwoo’s _face_ was extremely close to his, at any rate. It was a start. Their cheeks were just brushing each other’s, and Jungwoo was gazing up into Yukhei’s eyes expectantly, and Yukhei knew what he was expecting (his drink, obviously), so he fought back the urge to just kiss Jungwoo right then and there and nodded, heading towards the bar before he did something incredibly dumb.

Doyoung was already watching him as he approached, a look Yukhei couldn’t precisely identify on his face, but it shifted quickly to that genial, pleasant smile he’d perfected the closer Yukhei got. When he was close enough that they didn’t have to yell at each other over the music, Doyoung spoke.

“Another for the boy?”

Yukhei made some sort of noncommittal noise that he hoped translated as yes. It must have been good enough, because Doyoung glanced away and began making another shot of top shelf tequila and a vodka tonic, AKA serving up more arm action for Yukhei to ogle. Taeyong was probably too drunk to notice him eyeing up his boyfriend, anyways, he mused. While his hands were still busy with the drinks, Doyoung asked, “The same for you?”

Yukhei’s stomach turned involuntarily at the thought of more tequila. “Uh. No. Please, no. I’ll take... I’ll take a…”

Yukhei was out of his element, now. He didn’t drink that often, and when he did, cheap beer usually sufficed. Climax did not seem like a cheap beer sort of place.

Doyoung chuckled, rolling his eyes good naturedly. “How about a Jack and Coke, handsome?”

Feeling himself blush at the (probably) meaningless compliment, Yukhei nodded. He’d had Jack and Coke before. It was fine. It was unlikely to make him want to hurl, at least not on the level of tequila.

When the drinks were made, Yukhei began finding his way back across the club, three glasses carefully balanced in his big hands, looking for Jungwoo in this still unfamiliar jungle of sweat and shirtless bodies and a healthy dose of fog, coming from machines in parts unknown. He had to stop halfway there and get his bearings, looking first for Yuta’s pedestal, then just to the side of it, where he and Jungwoo had been dancing together. It took a moment, but finally, Yukhei found him.

He’d only taken a couple of steps forward when Yukhei saw Jungwoo motion to Yuta from the floor near the pedestal, and Yuta obliged him, jumping down easily to stand next to him as they whispered together for a second. Yukhei didn’t want to interrupt whatever conversation they were having, didn’t really want to know if it was about him or not, so he made his feet slow to a halt again, and he watched.

It started as a conversation. Yukhei knew that much. First, Jungwoo and Yuta were just talking, chatting, really. Then, Yukhei looked away for the briefest moment when a tipsy patron nearly mowed him and his drinks down, and when he’d recovered and steadied himself and looked back, Yuta and Jungwoo were dancing.

That was fine. Yukhei liked watching Jungwoo dance, and Yuta was easy on the eyes as well, with his red vinyl hot pants and matching red glitter streaked down his arms and across his chest and abs. But then, his mind wandered elsewhere, wondering what Jungwoo would look like covered in glitter. He kind of wanted to find out.

They were dancing, and then, almost too quick for Yukhei to keep up with, Yuta stood on his tiptoes, pressing his bare chest against Jungwoo’s still (sadly) clothed one, and then he and Jungwoo were kissing.

Yukhei had done a lot of kissing in his life. He knew about at least forty-six different kinds of kisses, he figured. Just a ballpark number. There were family kisses, pecks on the cheek. There were friendly kisses, ones that didn’t last long and were sweet and shy. There were first kisses, full of awkwardness and too much teeth and not enough bravery. Then there were other kinds of kisses. More than friendly ones. More than first time ones. Yukhei watched Jungwoo and Yuta laugh into their kisses, and he could tell it wasn’t the first time they’d been this close. Yukhei really wanted to focus on what kind of kisser Jungwoo was, but Yuta was kind of blocking his view. It was irritating. Yukhei was irritated.

He sighed to himself and started walking again, until he got to where Yuta and Jungwoo were still all over each other, Jungwoo pressed against Yuta’s empty pedestal and Yuta’s fingers just under the waistband of Jungwoo’s tight jeans while Jungwoo’s hands slid over Yuta’s ripped stomach, and when Yukhei cleared his throat and they broke apart, neither of them looked remotely guilty.

Yukhei looked down at Jungwoo first, as he handed over two of the three glasses in his hands. He didn’t say anything. Jungwoo didn’t either. He just sort of smiled and looked back at Yukhei with something that seemed like a challenge in his eyes, but Yukhei didn’t take him up on it. Not yet. Not until he was sure of what was happening.

Besides, Yuta had activated, sprung to life, and Yukhei, being unfamiliar with Yuta, was not prepared for the absolute storm of flirtatious affection and innuendo and uninhibited sex appeal he exuded. Not to mention his thirty-seven individual abs.

Yukhei wondered if maybe his brain wasn't lingering a bit too much on the abs situation, suddenly. God, he really needed to get laid.

“Ooh, is this Yukhei?? He’s _tall._ I like tall,” Yuta cooed, flashing a blinding, brilliant grin at Yukhei and slipping his arm through Yukhei’s free one, the one that wasn’t holding tight to his drink. “I’m Yuta, and you are just _too much._ ”

Yukhei had never been called _too much_ before. He kind of liked it.

He returned Yuta’s smile, although his own was smaller, less sure. “I am indeed Yukhei,” he replied, and Yuta giggled like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. He reached out with one delicate hand and grabbed himself a shot off the tray of a passing waitress, turning back to Jungwoo. He was still half-attached to Yukhei, but suddenly, Yukhei might as well have been invisible.

“Cheers, baby,” Yuta announced, and Jungwoo just laughed, letting their glasses clink together and tossing his shot back with Yuta. “Mmm,” Yuta nearly moaned, when his glass was drained. “Tequila makes me wanna fuck.”

Yukhei concentrated on not widening his eyes, at all. Not even a little bit. He wasn’t accustomed to people just _talking_ like this, like they didn’t care who was around to hear their most indecent thoughts.

“Yu _taaaa,_ ” Jungwoo admonished, giving Yuta a playful slap on the ass. “Don’t scare my new boy!”

 _Jungwoo’s new boy._ Yukhei was reasonably sure that was him. That he was the boy.

Yuta snickered. “He’s going to have to get used to all of us, baby boy, if he’s going to stick around. Might as well initiate him early.” With that, Yuta acquired yet another shot from somewhere Yukhei wasn’t paying attention to, because he was distracted by the thought of Jungwoo having a pet name like _baby boy_ , raised his glass to Jungwoo, and said, “Come get it, honey,” before he poured it into his mouth. Yukhei knew he didn’t swallow it. He knew what was about to happen.

That didn’t mean he had any intention of looking away.

No, he watched, just full-on _watched_ while Jungwoo went and got it, watched while tequila trickled down the corners of both of their mouths as they licked and kissed and sucked at each other’s tongues, and Yukhei was starting to wonder why he’d ever _paid_ for a cam show since he became aware of Jungwoo’s existence, when he could have just walked next door and Jungwoo would probably have let him watch for free. And maybe taken audience suggestions.

Yukhei watched until Jungwoo and Yuta pulled apart, Jungwoo wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he gazed at Yukhei. “Sorry, Yukhei. Did you want one?” he asked, and mother _fucker,_ his voice was almost innocent again. Yukhei was  _so annoyed._

Pleasantly. Pleasantly annoyed. And also possibly pleasantly buzzed, at this point. He’d taken down his whole Jack and Coke during The Yuta and Jungwoo Show without even realizing it. He was just… really fucking thirsty, okay?

He was about to answer Jungwoo, to say something, _anything,_ when a light, lilting voice sounded from behind their little trio. Well, the duo, plus Yukhei. He wasn’t sure he was in the trio just yet.

“Oh. My. _God._ Are you guys over here _making out_ without me??”

Yukhei whirled around a bit too fast, wobbling back and forth when he finished turning around. Without a word, Jungwoo reached over and steadied him gently, then kept his hand on Yukhei’s waist. It was warm. Yukhei liked it.

Ten stood there, looking playfully petulant, hand on his hip as he shook his head with amusement. “I can’t believe you two hoes. Always playing without me.”

Yukhei’s eyes darted up and down Ten’s body, and came to a quick conclusion: he wouldn’t mind playing with… all of _that_.

Jungwoo let out an excited little squeal and rushed over into Ten’s personal space and his toned arms, giving him the bounciest hug Yukhei had ever seen in a place like this one. Granted, he hadn’t _been_ in a lot of places like this one, but he felt sure that they were meant more for things that went far beyond boyish hugs.

Next to Yukhei, Yuta leaned over as if he was going to share a secret with Yukhei, and Yukhei thought it was probably going to be something he’d very much like to hear, but instead, Yuta just kept leaning until he was nearly nestled under Yukhei’s arm, nuzzling into his slightly sweaty shirt like a cat. Yukhei didn’t stop him. If he weren’t so into Jungwoo, he’d probably be quenching Yuta’s tequila-driven thirst for fucking.

Jungwoo’s friends were… an interesting bunch, so far. He started paying attention to the rapid-fire conversation Ten and Jungwoo were having right as Ten was complaining about Johnny. The DJ, Yukhei remembered.

“...and anyway, I was like, ‘Babe, we’re fucking _boring_ now, all we do is stay home when we’re not at work, can’t we invite Yuta over just this once for a little fun?’” Ten recounted. Yukhei guessed that Johnny was Ten's boyfriend, maybe. It was kind of impossible to sort out the maze of relationships in this place, so far. “And he was all, ‘I don’t know, Yuta’s pretty Wild™’ (Ten actually said _trademark,_ and it made Yukhei unreasonably happy), but I managed to convince him and I didn’t hear him fucking complaining while he watched Yuta eat my impeccable ass for literally _hours_ ,” Ten finished with an over-dramatic eyeroll.

Yukhei thought maybe it was about time for him to get another drink.

Ten had other ideas.

“You must be Yukhei,” he deduced while he looked Yukhei over, his eyes touching every part of Yukhei’s body, more than once. Yukhei got that feeling again, the one where he might as well have been a steak for them all to drool over. It was still enjoyable, he found. He’d already kind of done the same to Ten, anyways. Ten wasn’t as toned as Yuta, but Yukhei wasn’t disappointed by his slim dancer’s body in the slightest.

Jungwoo inserted himself into the proceedings again, just in time to save Yukhei from having to think of a different response than his standard _yup._ “Yes, this is the infamous Yukhei! I’m introducing him to my world tonight, so I need everyone to play nice, okay?”

Yukhei wondered if Jungwoo’s idea of _nice_ included any more inappropriate drink swapping with the rest of the go-go dancers. He wouldn’t have minded.

Ten sidled up to Yukhei, biting his lip as he looked up, _way_ up, into Yukhei’s eyes. “Bitch, I’m _always_ nice…” he murmured, and Yukhei heard Yuta snort loudly next to him. Ten shifted his gaze to Yuta, a bit disapprovingly, but the disapproval was blanketed with a double helping of lust. “Not a word from you, or else _I’m_ topping next time Johnny wants a show.”

Yuta fake-pouted for a second, then rolled his eyes. “You say that like it’s a threat or something,” was his snarky reply, and Ten was muttering some more shade about Yuta under his breath, when yet another new voice was added to the party, a deeper one, now.

“God, I’m exhausted. Isn’t there any water left in this place, or is liquor just pouring out of the bathroom sinks, now?” Sicheng complained, leaning against Yuta’s pedestal as Yukhei cleared his throat, sensing something to do, finally a reason to leave and go back to the bar for the drink he sorely needed.

“I can go get you a water from the bar,” Yukhei offered with a friendly smile that he hoped didn’t hold any of the overwhelming confusion and arousal he was currently dealing with, thanks to everything that was happening tonight. Sicheng may or may not have amplified that arousal problem -- he could see why Taeil couldn’t focus on just one part of the go-go boy. Between his own abs-arms-glitter-and-face problems, Sicheng was a whole package, but in a different way from Yuta. Yuta was raunchy lust personified, but Sicheng? Sicheng exuded a more sophisticated aura, one that was no less fuckworthy.

“Sicheng, right?” he added.

Sicheng glanced at Yukhei impassively, from under his perfect, flirty-fluttery eyelashes. “You’re Yukhei,” he said simply. “Water would be outstanding.”

As Yukhei made his way back to the bar again, he thought about something. Jungwoo didn’t talk very much, around his friends. He didn’t seem to talk much in general, actually. It was compelling, how he could be so friendly and gregarious and obviously beloved by literally _everyone_ he met (Yukhei pretty much included, by now), just by listening intently and smiling and clinging.

Oh, and kissing.

It was an interesting dichotomy. Yukhei was positive that there was so much more to Jungwoo that he hadn’t yet discovered, and just the thought of it made him excited all over again. He couldn’t wait for his chance to learn everything he could about Jungwoo. Maybe he would get started on that, if he could ever get his perma-erection to go away when they were around each other.

Doyoung was still behind the bar, but he’d moved down to where Taeyong still sat, bending down to kiss his boyfriend sweetly as Yukhei walked up. Another thing that was surprising him about this evening was just how _adorable_ everyone he’d met was, so far.

Uh. The raging boner he was starting to sport for all of Jungwoo’s hot friends not withstanding, of course.

Even Ten, tiny Grindr Gay Ten (Yukhei didn’t know where that thought had come from, but he was obviously the type) was outrageously cute, and Yuta with all his smiles and his tequila kisses, and Sicheng, even though Yukhei had barely met him, seemed to fall right into their group just as easily as everyone else.  And then, there was Doyoung and Taeyong.

Yukhei had made up a backstory for them in his mind, while he was busy trying to Deal With Himself and not be embarrassing in front of Jungwoo. He’d decided that Taeyong was once a go-go boy, maybe the best of them all, but then he fell in love with Doyoung the bartender and retired, to live a happy existence as a man of leisure, sitting at Doyoung’s bar every night and getting mildly trashed on his one fruity, inconsequential drink.

_See? Adorable._

Doyoung noticed Yukhei after a moment, straightening up a bit sheepishly and moving back down the bar away from his boyfriend, who gave Yukhei a little wave. Yukhei returned it, and then turned back to Doyoung. “Okay, I need…”

“Bottle of water for Sicheng, two of the same for Jungwoo, anything in a shot glass for Yuta, and if I remember correctly, Ten’s on some sort of ridiculous cleanse, so he’s not drinking. Two waters, then.” Doyoung interrupted, listing each order one by one before Yukhei could continue. “Anything for you?”

Yukhei blinked a few times. Doyoung was very, _very_ good at his job. He had the arms for it. And the attention-span. But mostly the arms. “I guess… another Jack and Coke? I don’t really… I don’t remember the last one,” he admitted with a small blush, making Doyoung grin.

“You got it,” he said, keeping an eye on Jungwoo’s group as he made the drinks. “Looks like they’re moving to a booth,” Doyoung reported. “Just so you don’t lose them when you go back.”

Yukhei turned, following Doyoung’s gaze to a booth to the side of the dance floor, where he could see Jungwoo whispering fervently to the gathered go-go boys.

“Thanks,” he said gratefully, pulling out his wallet and stuffing all the bills he had into Doyoung’s tip jar. He was starting to feel bad about not paying for all these drinks. He grabbed the full tray and left before Doyoung could object, feeling good about his choices.

When Yukhei was almost to the booth, he had to stop and set the tray down for a minute. The effort of balancing all those glasses was getting to be a lot, and he’d had more to drink already tonight than in a very long time, and things were difficult on top of that, and…

“So, how long are you planning on torturing Taeil?”

 _Shit._ He hadn’t realized he could hear the conversation coming from Jungwoo’s booth from here. Yukhei hovered uncertainly a few feet away. He should probably get back to the group. But he could hear Jungwoo’s sweet voice pretty clearly from where he stood, and he kind of just… wanted to listen, for a minute.

“Oh, just until he grows a pair and stops pining from the corner of the club,” Sicheng’s low voice responded, sounding _so done_.

“I thought you liked your dates without balls,” Jungwoo giggled, and Yukhei tried not to laugh too loud.

Sicheng snorted. “I could say the same to you.”

There was a small pause before Jungwoo chimed in again. “I’ll have you know that Yukhei has very large balls, Sicheng.”

“You haven’t seen them yet. I know you haven’t, because you would have called me immediately and described his whole setup in detail,” Ten pointed out blithely, and everyone cackled at that.

“Now, now,” Yuta said after a while. “I bet Yukhei _does_ have large balls. So large that he looks like he’s about to cum in his pants, just watching us flirt with you.”

Yukhei bit his lip, blushing. Jungwoo _was_ trying to make him jealous. He’d thought it, in the back of his mind, and then dismissed the thought almost immediately. But here it was, confirmed. If only Jungwoo knew that Yukhei really wasn’t the jealous type. He was more the “get worked up into a total frenzy watching A Boy He Likes get all up on other hot boys and then count the minutes until he can show Said Boy what he’s been missing” type.

But, like. Romantic, and shit.

Yukhei could hear Sicheng chuckle. “I haven’t had my turn yet. Let’s give our boys something to wank about, Jungwoo, yeah?”

Jungwoo might have hummed in response. Yukhei wasn’t sure. He’d already decided to show back up, before his absence became too obvious.

*

As soon as he’d gotten back to the booth, Jungwoo and Sicheng left again, with Jungwoo barely pausing long enough to thank Yukhei for his drinks before Sicheng dragged him by his belt loops back to the dance floor. Ten and Yuta stayed a moment longer to collect their beverages and exchange knowing glances that Yukhei wasn’t sure he really wanted to spend a lot of time analyzing, and then they were gone too, back to their respective pedestals to continue doing their jobs.

Yukhei was alone, with only his Jack and Coke and a host of indecent thoughts to keep him company. He watched Jungwoo and Sicheng dance for a moment, watched them get closer and closer. They weren’t talking, but there seemed to be a lot of communication happening in their eyes, almost as if they were silently working out a plan, or something, a plan which also probably fell under the category of things Yukhei had no business thinking too hard about.

He was spared from his thoughts, anyway, when yet another person flopped into the vacated booth a moment later.

Yukhei turned to see who his latest visitor was, and was only about three percent surprised to find Taeil, slumping over his drink and gazing at Sicheng as his go-go crush’s hands went all over Jungwoo. Even while he did it, Yukhei noticed, Sicheng kept tabs on where Taeil was at every given second, and once he saw that he’d joined Yukhei, Sicheng smirked so hard Yukhei could have seen it through four fog machines, and jerked his head in the direction of the booth, saying something in Jungwoo’s ear.

Jungwoo looked too, his glance floating from Taeil, where it only stayed for a fleeting second, then over to Yukhei, and it stayed there a while.

Yukhei looked back silently, raising his eyebrow the slightest bit, as if to ask, _what’s next, handsome?_ Jungwoo saw it, and he laughed, and he was diverting his attention back to Sicheng and all his purple glitter, when Taeil finally spoke up.

“Hey, man,” he muttered, sort of at Yukhei, but not really _at_ him.

Yukhei sat up a little more, clearing his throat. Not that it mattered, with the music this loud. “Hey. You must be Taeil.” He wondered if he should have said that at all, if it was going to make things exponentially more awkward that he already knew about the whole Taeil/Sicheng drama, but it was too late to take it back.

Taeil huffed out an annoyed breath, trying for a laugh. “I see you’ve spent longer than three seconds talking to or about Sicheng,” he replied, and Yukhei had to admire his sense of humor about the whole thing. It was good. A healthy approach, really.

Yukhei chuckled. “Just about, yeah.”

They both watched in silence for a moment, as Sicheng got even closer to Jungwoo, their bodies melting together on the dance floor, and then Sicheng leaned in and licked a long, slow stripe up Jungwoo’s neck. Yukhei bit his lip, thought about looking away. As always, he didn’t.

Next to him, Taeil groaned. “I hate my fucking life.”

Yukhei managed to tear his eyes away from Act 2 (3? He was having trouble keeping up, now) of the Jungwoo & Friends Sex Spectacular long enough to pay attention to Taeil. “I mean, why don’t you just ask him out, man? Why subject yourself to this game of Gay Chicken? It’s probably not good for your blood pressure,” he pointed out as Taeil took a long sip of his drink.

“Is it really Gay Chicken? Um…” he paused, looking at Yukhei with a question in his eyes.

“Yukhei,” he provided, when he’d figured it out.

“Yukhei. Is it really. Is it really, though? Chicken implies two participants. This is more like... Sicheng runs over my gay chickenshit heart repeatedly until I die from it, but I still die happy.” Taeil mused. “Probably.”

“It’s definitely Gay Chicken, dude. And Sicheng’s the cock.” Yukhei said, watching Taeil out of the corner of his eye.

Taeil laughed, and it sounded like actual amusement this time. Progress, Yukhei figured. “I can see why Jungwoo likes you. You’re his type.”

Yukhei scoffed good-naturedly. “It seems like everyone’s his type.”

Taeil was the one to raise an eyebrow, now. “Does it bother you?” he asked.

Yukhei shrugged. “No. It really doesn’t,” he answered honestly. “It kinda does it for me, actually.”

Taeil shrugged back, a knowing smile on his face. “Even more his type, then.”

In actuality, it was really Jungwoo and Yukhei who were conducting a thoroughly ridiculous game of Gay Chicken, and Yukhei was slowly starting to realize it. He was starting to ponder his next moves, and how far he could go before one of them won, when, out on the dance floor of Climax, right in front of Yukhei and Taeil and everyone else, Sicheng put his entire hand down the front of Jungwoo’s jeans.

One second they were dancing, and maybe kissing a little, and licking. That was all pretty normal, considering everything that had happened so far tonight. The next second, before Yukhei could really comprehend what was happening and prepare himself for the effect it would have on him, Sicheng’s hand was in Jungwoo’s jeans and Yukhei could see Jungwoo’s eyes fall shut as he felt Sicheng’s fingers wrap around him. Yukhei was willing to bet his next paycheck that Jungwoo was going commando, tonight. It would figure.

Anyway, he wasn’t ready for any of it, and so, his semi-permanent half-boner quickly rose to full boner before he could process it and even attempt to do anything to stop it. All he could do, it seemed, was stare. He stared as Sicheng, all hooded eyes and deliberate, controlled lust, stroked Jungwoo, hard. Watched as he varied the speed of his strokes just enough. Shit, he could almost _feel_ the whine Jungwoo let out as he saw his throat tighten with the sound.

It was just… it was _a lot._

Yukhei had thought this whole night was a lot already. Now he knew, he should probably never underestimate Jungwoo, especially not when he wanted something as clearly as he wanted to make Yukhei “jealous”.

Yukhei felt his cock throb in his own jeans, until it was almost painful and he wanted to do something about it so badly, he wanted to do something to _Jungwoo_ with it, but instead he settled for discreetly pressing his palm against it under the table and trying to blink away the white spots forming at the edges of his vision. He tried to calm down as best he could. Beside him, Taeil was faring just as poorly.

When Yukhei looked down, Taeil was gripping the glass in his hand so tight that Yukhei legitimately started to worry it might shatter inside his palm. Then he would have to get up and find napkins and maybe even a first aid kit, all while fighting through the massive need swelling up in his jeans. It would be terribly inconvenient, Yukhei thought, and so he reached over and took the glass out of Taeil’s hand and set it on the table next to him carefully, just to prevent that whole scenario from actually happening. Taeil didn’t even seem to notice. He was too busy muttering to himself, but, Yukhei observed, he didn’t look angry, or exasperated, now. He looked _determined._

“He’s trying to kill me, Yukhei,” Taeil sputtered. “I have to win the Gay Chicken. I have to.”

Yukhei glanced back to the dance floor just in time for the Grand Finale, which apparently involved Jungwoo, now on his knees on the floor in front of Sicheng, pulling down Sicheng’s purple hotpants with his teeth. For. Reasons.

Reasons that Yukhei absolutely could not stick around any longer to find out.

He hated to abandon Taeil, to leave him on his own with all his Feelings, but he really just… he had to fucking _go,_ immediately.

Yukhei all but threw himself out of his side of the booth. He had no idea where anything was in this place, where the bathrooms were, but he was going to figure it out, for the sake of his poor cock. As he strode away from the dance floor, Yukhei thought he could just make out the sound of Jungwoo’s voice, calling his name. He ignored it, pushing through the crowd, eyes darting around until he found what he was looking for.

The sign for the restroom blinked over a doorway in one corner like a shiny, fiery beacon of freedom, the freedom to finally get out all the pent-up frustrations that had been building since Jungwoo showed up at his apartment that evening ( _since you met Jungwoo, in general,_ Yukhei’s brain helpfully provided). Yukhei didn’t know what to expect from the facilities themselves. He’d only been to a couple clubs like this in his life, and at all of them, the restrooms seemed to be uniformly disgusting, certainly not the place one would want to desperately jerk off to the thought of their crush and his harem of go-go boys. But, he didn’t have much of a choice, at that point.

To Yukhei’s immense surprise, not only was the bathroom empty, but it was also reasonably clean, and there was a functioning lock on the door. He wondered if maybe this was the employee restroom, and he’d just found it by accident. Hell, it could have been the private bathroom of the owner of this whole place, and Yukhei wouldn’t have cared. It was too late for that.

Yukhei fiddled with the lock for exactly three seconds before he gave up. It didn’t really matter to him if anyone caught him. He was going to make this fast, anyhow.

He was having an equal amount of trouble fiddling with the button and zipper of his jeans, and the frustration was almost becoming too much, when the door of the bathroom, the one Yukhei hadn’t bothered to finish locking, pushed open without preamble.

“Yukhei?”

Jungwoo’s high-pitched, innocent-sounding voice preceded him into the small room, and Yukhei managed to remove his hands from his crotch a half-second before Jungwoo poked his head around the door. He looked half a mess already, face flushed and eyes wide, hair sticking to his forehead in small clumps. He looked beautiful.

Yukhei managed to shudder out a laugh. “Oh. Of course you’re here.”

Jungwoo didn’t answer, but he brought the rest of his body into the bathroom after a moment, closing the door behind him and locking it properly, this time. Yukhei just watched, leaning against the counter and holding onto it for support. He hoped he looked calm and collected doing it, sort of the exact opposite of how he felt.

When Jungwoo turned around, they watched each other silently for a minute. Yukhei watched as Jungwoo bit his lip, smiling a little. “I’m sorry, Yukhei,” he said unapologetically. “Did I make you jealous? Is that why you ran away?”

Yukhei ran a hand through his messy, slightly sweaty hair, chuckling. “I’m not the jealous type, Jungwoo.”

Jungwoo took a step closer to Yukhei, away from the door. “What type are you, then?” he asked softly. Yukhei could feel himself growing harder by the second. The ache was more insistent, the closer Jungwoo got.

There was only one more step separating them when Jungwoo slowed to a stop, still waiting for an answer.

“I like to watch,” Yukhei said simply, still holding onto the counter, if only to stop himself from bending Jungwoo over that very same counter.

Jungwoo’s smile turned knowing. “I like to show off.”

Yukhei licked his lips, a low rumble escaping his throat without him allowing it to. “I think I’m starting to figure that out.”

Jungwoo looked away. He was almost blushing, and if Yukhei didn’t know much, much better, he could have mistaken it for real, honest-to-goodness innocence.

He knew better.

“You’ve heard me, haven’t you, Yukhei?” Jungwoo asked next, his voice still so, so soft. “The walls are pretty thin in our building…”

Yukhei swallowed. “I’ve seen you, too.”

Jungwoo only looked the tiniest bit surprised at that revelation. “Mmm. I guess that makes sense.” He reached out and slid one hand under Yukhei’s shirt, running his palm over Yukhei’s abs, and Yukhei almost forgot how to breathe. Jungwoo’s hands were softer than his voice, when he spoke again. Yukhei felt like he was on fire, but Jungwoo seemed just as warm. They matched. “So, if I didn’t make you jealous… what _did_ I make you?”

Yukhei took a moment to look at Jungwoo, standing in front of him, just starting to touch him. He took it all in, from Jungwoo’s messy hair to his pink cheeks with specks of Sicheng’s purple glitter on them and his wide eyes, to those lips that absolutely _demanded_ kissing, and then lower, where his shirt was just riding up, exposing the smallest bit of his belly, and finally, even lower.

Jungwoo wanted Yukhei just as much as he wanted Jungwoo.

Yukhei laughed quietly, reaching out to run his fingers through Jungwoo’s hair, using it to pull him closer, until their lips were brushing each other’s.

“Let me show you.”

Yukhei didn’t give Jungwoo a chance to reply to that, to ask any more questions. He wanted to give Jungwoo all the answers he needed, instead. The minute their lips connected, explosions might as well have gone off in Yukhei’s mind. Jungwoo wasn’t that much shorter than he was, but he was much more slender, less built, and he felt small in Yukhei’s arms as they wrapped around him, sweeping up his back and under his shirt, moving up to tug his hair. Yukhei felt desperate to touch all of Jungwoo, now that he could. He had to force himself to focus, to pay attention to only one thing at a time. Maybe two. Or three.

Jungwoo kissed with a hunger that would have surprised Yukhei, if it didn’t mirror his own so perfectly. There was nothing sweet about their kisses, nothing innocent. Both of them were too far gone for that. Yukhei pushed Jungwoo back against the counter, smiling against Jungwoo’s parted lips when it made him gasp, and he bracketed Jungwoo in place with his arms on either side of his waist while they kissed. Yukhei knew this was his chance to show Jungwoo all the things he’d fantasized about. His chance to prove that he _wasn’t_ actually the giant dork he knew he’d been when they were around each other, so far.

He took it.

In the next few seconds, Yukhei had lifted Jungwoo up easily and put him on the bathroom counter where he wanted him, Jungwoo’s back pressing against the mirrors behind him as Yukhei’s tongue explored his mouth and his hands wove themselves through Jungwoo’s hair, pulling when he felt like it, memorizing the way it made Jungwoo whine under his breath, the way it made his chest vibrate against Yukhei’s.

Yukhei was barely out of breath by the time Jungwoo reached between them, feeling for Yukhei’s crotch blindly, and he just about hit his target the first time, making Yukhei growl in response, breaking their lips apart for the first time in what could have been minutes.

Yukhei’s head dropped as a wave of pleasure washed over him, because finally, _finally_ Jungwoo was touching him, and it was so much better than his own hand would have been. He felt Jungwoo giggle quietly as he pawed at Yukhei’s still clothed cock messily, and Yukhei raised his head, mouth dropped open as he gazed at Jungwoo.

Jungwoo managed a smirk through his own panting breaths. “Come on, Yukhei. Is that all it takes to distract you?” He clicked his tongue in teasing disappointment. Yukhei knew he was teasing. He knew Jungwoo was teasing him, because he knew it would make Yukhei even more determined. And so, he let it work.

He yanked Jungwoo’s hair again, hard this time. Hard enough to make him jerk his head up breathlessly, and Yukhei’s eyes were already waiting for him. Yukhei matched the smirk he’d worn before, glancing down between Jungwoo’s legs at his obvious arousal. “Is _that_ all it takes, for you?” he murmured, tightening his grip on the strands of Jungwoo’s hair between his fingers, watching the way it made his throat constrict just a bit, the way his big eyes got even wider as they stared into his.

Jungwoo laughed, the sound huskier than normal from the angle his head was being held at. “It’s a start,” he answered.

Yukhei couldn’t quite stop another growl falling from his lips as he leaned down and licked up Jungwoo’s neck, just like he’d seen Sicheng doing on the dance floor. He could almost _taste_ Sicheng there, and it only made him hotter, made him want Jungwoo more. Jungwoo’s hand started working again between Yukhei’s legs, pressing harder into the denim covering his aching cock, moving the heel of his palm up and down even as he mewled when Yukhei grazed the sensitive skin of his neck with his teeth.

Yukhei was proud of himself, so far. He thought he was doing a good job, judging by Jungwoo’s enthusiastic reaction. He was holding it together well. He wasn’t embarrassing himself with the magnitude of his need for this whole event.

But then, Jungwoo curled his fingers in and damn near managed a full grab of Yukhei’s dick through his jeans, and it was officially Too Fucking Much.

To his credit, Yukhei played it off, spinning his potentially awkward whimper into a laugh full of intent, picking Jungwoo up off the bathroom counter with one arm and setting him on his feet in front of Yukhei, so Jungwoo was facing the mirrors and Yukhei was behind him. Jungwoo rocked unsteadily for a moment, but Yukhei wasn’t about to let him fall. Not when he was just getting started.

When he’d recovered, Jungwoo looked up into the mirror at Yukhei, letting out a lustful chuckle, but it died between his lips when Yukhei moved his hand and unzipped Jungwoo in one smooth motion, making sure to dip inside and find that, to his complete lack of surprise, Jungwoo definitely wasn’t wearing anything under those skintight jeans. Yukhei watched Jungwoo as he pulled Jungwoo’s cock out, giving it a few firm strokes before he let it go. Jungwoo whined in protest, but Yukhei just shook his head, raising a finger to his own lips in a silent order for Jungwoo to be quiet.

Yukhei let his hands move again, across Jungwoo’s waist to the back of his jeans, pressing against the pockets there and finding exactly what he thought he would. Smirking with satisfaction, Yukhei liberated a small packet of lube from Jungwoo’s pocket, watching Jungwoo’s face turn pink in the mirror, both from amusement and maybe a tiny bit of embarrassment, Yukhei thought.

“I guess it’s good one of us was prepared for this,” Yukhei commented mildly, keeping one hand on Jungwoo’s firm ass as he tore the packet open with his teeth.

Jungwoo watched him in the mirror. “I was hoping it would be with you,” he admitted, and it was unexpectedly sweet and it made Yukhei want to turn him around and kiss him again, so instead, he reached down and pulled Jungwoo’s hair a little one more time, just because he could. It shut Jungwoo up.

Yukhei started to push Jungwoo’s already unzipped jeans down his legs, but they were _so tight_ that he could barely get the fabric over Jungwoo’s perky ass, and Yukhei let out a small laugh. “How did you even get these things on?” he wondered aloud, and he glanced up just in time to see Jungwoo roll his eyes in the mirror.

“It takes time and effort for _some of us_ to look this good,” he sassed back, and Yukhei smiled a little, shaking his head.

“I don’t think it takes you any effort at all,” he said, before he could stop himself. When he saw how it made Jungwoo smile and bite his lip, Yukhei didn’t regret it. He went back to work on Junwgoo’s jeans, trying to be as patient as he possibly could, because he was very sure that they cost more than his entire life, judging by the brand name he could see emblazoned on them, and he didn’t want to rip them in his haste. In his absolute, all-consuming _need._

Finally, he managed to get the damn jeans down far enough to reveal Jungwoo’s perfect ass, and he tipped the package of lube that had been in his hand this whole time over and wet his fingers. He was really hoping this part didn’t take a long time. He wasn’t sure how much patience he actually had left.

He pushed one finger against Jungwoo’s rim experimentally, keeping an eye on the mirror as he did. Jungwoo just watched him calmly. Yukhei took that as a sign that he was welcome to keep going, so he did. Jungwoo was tight, but he took Yukhei’s first finger with almost no resistance, the only sign that it was affecting him at all in the way Yukhei saw his mouth twitch the slightest bit in the mirror.

Even though he wanted to fuck the hell out of Jungwoo, right now, immediately, Yukhei made himself take his time, because he cared. He cared a lot about Jungwoo, even if he’d never thought about it until now, not really. He used the time to consider it, while he stretched Jungwoo carefully, one finger, then two, then three, grazing them over Jungwoo’s prostate every so often, enjoying the keening sounds that increased in volume with every stroke.

When Yukhei pushed a fourth finger inside Jungwoo, it made him look back over his shoulder with an exasperated expression, even as he stretched to welcome it. “Really? Four? Is that necessary?” Jungwoo questioned snarkily.

Yukhei glanced down at his still buttoned jeans. They weren’t as tight as Jungwoo’s, but tight enough that his situation was pretty obvious. He licked his lips, looking back up. “You’ll have to tell me,” he said, pushing all four fingers deeper, and Jungwoo didn’t say anything else after that. He was too busy nearly sobbing with pleasure. Yukhei was glad.

After he’d finally finished prepping Jungwoo, Yukhei gave himself a bit of relief, pulling his unbelievably hard throb out of his jeans for the first time and nearly moaning with the sensation of it. He liked to wait until the last minute, sometimes. It made everything just a little more intense.

Jungwoo tried to turn around again and look when he heard Yukhei unzip his jeans, but Yukhei gave him a slightly wet slap on the ass with his lubed fingers for it, and Jungwoo faced the mirror again, but he was pouting. Yukhei chuckled.

“I want you to watch, baby,” he said, barely noticing he’d used the intimate pet name. “It’s your turn to watch.”

With that, Yukhei pushed inside Jungwoo, maybe a little deeper than he’d planned to, but Jungwoo was awfully wet by then and Yukhei was awfully hard and awfully needy. He didn’t think Jungwoo minded, if his obscenity-laden response and the precum Yukhei could see leaking onto the floor from his cock were anything to go by.

“Please,” Jungwoo whispered breathlessly. “Please, more. I can take it. Fuck me, Yukhei.”

There they were. Those three words Yukhei had been waiting to hear from Jungwoo, and they sounded even better than he’d thought they would with Jungwoo’s needy, whiny voice.

He gave Jungwoo what he asked for.

Shoving Jungwoo’s shirt up his back and grabbing a handful of the fabric in one hand, Yukhei began to fuck into Jungwoo, slow for the first few thrusts, then faster. They were in a public bathroom, after all, they couldn’t take all night and Yukhei knew it.

Yukhei threw himself into it with abandon, feeding Jungwoo every inch of his thick cock, watching him in the mirror. He couldn’t tear his eyes away. Even though he’d given Yukhei some sass for how thoroughly he’d been prepped, Jungwoo still looked stunned by the size of Yukhei, a fact that made Yukhei unreasonably pleased.

It only took a minute or two before Jungwoo looked completely ruined, eyes glassy and face nearly red, holding onto the counter desperately as Yukhei drove into him, but Yukhei kept going. He bent over Jungwoo and wrapped his big hand around Jungwoo’s length. Jungwoo nearly fell over when Yukhei started stroking, hard and fast, matching his own pace, just like he had when he’d watched Jungwoo’s show. This moment had seemed impossible then. Yukhei had never thought he’d be here.

Of course, he’d had no _idea_ he would be _exactly_ here, in the bathroom of a club like Climax, fucking Jungwoo for all he was worth, but he wasn’t mad about the location. He was pretty happy with the way this whole night was turning out, actually.

But, they were still in a public bathroom and they couldn’t take all night, so Yukhei pulled on Jungwoo’s hair again after a while, making their eyes meet in the mirror, and he mouthed _watch, baby_ and Jungwoo watched while Yukhei drove them both towards that steep cliff of ecstasy he’d been dying to jump over with Jungwoo.

He let Jungwoo cum first. Yukhei felt good about that. He watched Jungwoo while he worked his cock, faster and harder until Jungwoo was begging for release, as if he needed to beg for it, even, and Yukhei leaned down and whispered in a voice ragged with desire for him to cum. Jungwoo let go with a cry of Yukhei’s name, spilling onto the bathroom floor, and Yukhei could feel his own orgasm pushing down on him.

It arrived faster than he expected, and Yukhei barely had time to pull out before he was shooting thick cum everywhere. Some of it splashed across Jungwoo’s ass on Yukhei’s way out. He liked the way it looked.

Neither of them said anything for entire minutes, they just stayed there with Yukhei draped over Jungwoo and Jungwoo bent over the bathroom counter, both of them panting, gasping for any air they could get. When Yukhei recovered enough to move, he straightened himself up slowly, taking a step or two back and reaching automatically for the paper towel dispenser nearby, working the lever way too many times and unleashing a billowing ocean of cheap paper onto the floor. He kind of stared at it dumbly, his brain still working to catch up, until Jungwoo laughed behind him and fixed it for him, pulling the towels off and handing Yukhei a wad, keeping one for himself.

They cleaned themselves up quietly, until they were both zipped back into their pants and seventy-five percent presentable. As an afterthought, Yukhei tossed his remaining paper towels onto the ground and moved them across their illicit little puddle with the toe of his boot, Jungwoo watching with affectionate amusement in his eyes and his arms crossed as he leaned against the counter.  

When they finally made their way back out into the club and found Jungwoo’s friends (and maybe Yukhei’s, a little, too?), Yukhei couldn’t even hide how incredibly pleased he was to see Taeil and Sicheng cuddling and kissing on top of Sicheng’s pedestal. Yukhei wondered who’d won the game of Gay Chicken. He’d try to find out later.

It was late, almost closing time, so Doyoung had abandoned his post behind the bar, dragging Taeyong along with him gently as they joined the rest of the group. Minus Sicheng and Taeil, of course. They couldn’t be bothered to leave their little bubble on top of the pedestal, and no one really wanted to make them. Yukhei tried not to notice the knowing smirks that painted Ten and Yuta’s faces as they draped themselves on either side of Johnny the DJ, who didn’t seem to talk much, but had a presence about him that Yukhei noticed in spite of the silence.

Jungwoo sipped his final drink of the night as they all sat in the booth. Doyoung had helpfully brought over one last round for everyone from the bar, along with a bottle of water for Yukhei. Taeyong was just sort of alternating between blinking rapidly, then staring from Jungwoo to Yukhei and back again with a wide-eyed confusion from his position under one of Doyoung’s distracting arms.

“Did you guys fuck?” he asked suddenly, eyes still flitting between Jungwoo and Yukhei, and Yuta couldn’t quite stop a loud snicker coming out of his mouth as Doyoung shot Taeyong a highly disapproving look that still somehow contained an endless wealth of love and affection.

Yukhei was blushing, unsure of how to respond, and Jungwoo was giggling next to him, and then Yukhei felt Jungwoo’s hand slip into his under the table. No inappropriate touching, this time. Just sweet, simple hand holding. Yukhei was almost giddy over it, and when he glanced down at Jungwoo, still giggling and nuzzling against him, he started to get the giggles, too. It was _late,_ okay? That was really his only excuse. Well, that, and also the alcohol. And the sex. And the very public cuddling.

Mostly, the last two.

Anyway. Jungwoo stayed close to Yukhei, and held his hand for the rest of the night (which wasn’t that long, but Yukhei welcomed every second he could get with Jungwoo happily), until they left Climax and took another cab back to their building.

Jungwoo let go of Yukhei’s hand first as he said goodnight, but then he tilted his face up and gave Yukhei a sweet kiss, and Yukhei didn’t even mind going back to his own apartment to sleep alone. It was probably better that Jungwoo didn’t witness the thoroughly undignified victory dance Yukhei executed the minute he shut his front door.

*

With everything that had happened the night before, Yukhei had somehow forgotten one very important thing: he had the opening shift at the bakery the next day.

Thankfully, he made sure to keep an alarm set on his phone for circumstances such as these, and when it started blaring in his ear at five AM, which was only a three hours’ nap worth of sleep after he’d gotten home, Yukhei groaned loudly, stumbling out of bed. If this had happened after any other night, a night that hadn’t ended with him inside Jungwoo and then getting even closer to Jungwoo, in more than just a physical way, Yukhei would have been much more disgruntled, really.

That morning, the one groan was all his mood allowed him. By the time he got in the shower, Yukhei was practically whistling, all gleeful smiles and cheerful shampooing. Never mind that smiling in the shower tends to lead to soap in one’s mouth. It was worth it, Yukhei figured.

He worked the first part of his shift with equal cheerfulness. Sure, nothing had actually been _decided_ between he and Jungwoo, nothing _discussed,_ but they could get to that. They had time. Yukhei was willing to give Jungwoo all the time he needed, since he himself already knew exactly what he wanted.

The brunch rush had just finished, and Yukhei probably only had another couple hours left, when a very important customer opened the door of the bakery, then stood there and waited, holding it open while a few groups of people wandered out onto the street, full of bagels and muffins and orange juice, to go about their day.

Yukhei glanced up when the door didn’t close again right away, and there was Jungwoo, sunglasses pushed up onto his forehead, smiling sweetly and nodding at each and every person as they thanked him for holding the door. Yukhei used the time to just watch Jungwoo. He just wanted to look at him, honestly.

Even though Jungwoo had easily had the most to drink out of the entire group last night, he didn’t look too bad off, this morning (afternoon? It could have been. Yukhei didn’t like to look at the clock while he worked). He was dressed more casually than Yukhei had ever seen him -- tiny black briefs not withstanding -- in a fuzzy pink sweater that was several sizes too big for him and loose-fitting pants. The last of Jungwoo’s grateful crowd passed through the door, finally, and Jungwoo stepped inside the bakery, shutting the door carefully and looking up, looking for…

When Jungwoo saw Yukhei, he broke out into the biggest, most brilliant smile Yukhei had ever seen. It nearly knocked him off his feet behind the counter. It _did_ manage to move him, move him from his spot at the register and around into the middle of the bakery, where Jungwoo was standing, looking a little nervous, now. The sleeves of Jungwoo’s sweater fell over his hands as he watched Yukhei approach, forming an aggressive set of sweater paws that made him even _more_ unfairly adorable.

Jungwoo smiled as Yukhei stopped in front of him. “Hello, Yukhei.”

Yukhei bit his lip, smiling too. “Hello, Jungwoo.” He didn’t want to say anything else, yet. He wasn’t sure where Jungwoo wanted the conversation to go.

Jungwoo glanced toward the register, to the case with shelves full of desserts and sweets and maybe a few stray croissants left over from breakfast. “I came to…” he started, then he trailed off, gazing back at Yukhei. “I came to try another one of your cupcakes.”

Yukhei meant to answer him, he definitely did, but he was just a bit over-excited about the whole situation, so instead, he ran back behind the counter, throwing the door of the kitchen open, and leaned inside. “Mark! I gotta take a break!” Yukhei yelled, fumbling with the strings of his apron and opening the walk-in cooler, looking for his co-worker as he finally got the apron off his body.

“A break? You’re off in like an hour and a half!” Mark’s shrill voice sounded from behind Yukhei, and Yukhei whirled around to find him watching over the ovens, his own apron covered in flour. Yukhei jogged towards him, closing the few feet of distance, unable to keep the big grin off his face.

“I know. But. Jungwoo’s here,” Yukhei said, leaning forward the tiniest bit and trying to make the words convey the appropriate amount of import he felt they most certainly had. Blessedly, a look of recognition crossed Mark’s face immediately.

“Wait.  _The_ Jungwoo? Is here?” Mark clarified, eyes wide with enthusiasm. “Dude! That’s _awesome_!! Say no more, man. I got you covered!” Mark exclaimed, pulling off his dirty apron in favor of a clean one hanging from a hook on the wall. “Go forth and conquer, my dude! Lock that down!!”

Sometimes, Yukhei wondered if Mark spoke only in motivational phrases, all the time. Even at home. Even in his sleep. But, he didn’t have time to revisit those mild concerns, just then. Jungwoo was (hopefully) still waiting for him.

Quickly, Yukhei grabbed two clean plates off a stack in the kitchen, and barreled back out the swinging doors to the front. Jungwoo had taken a seat at a table in the corner, looking up with a small smile when Yukhei returned noisily. Yukhei picked two cupcakes at random from the flavors of the day, plating them as fast as he could and accepting the two glasses of ice water Mark (a lifesaver, as always) emerged from the kitchen briefly and poured for him, and added them to a tray, and then Yukhei picked the tray up and prayed he wouldn’t drop it on his way over to Jungwoo.

He made it in one piece, setting the tray down and unloading it onto their table as Jungwoo watched quietly, a faint blush splashed across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. Finally, Yukhei plopped into the chair across from him, and promptly discovered that he had _no idea_ where to start.

“Um…” Yukhei tried, glancing down at the cupcakes in front of them.

Jungwoo inspected each plate with interest, pulling one over to his side of the table. “What flavor’s this one?” he asked, unrolling his silverware from the napkin housing it.

“Pineapple-upside-down with a cherry on top. I know you like… cherries…” Yukhei could have kicked himself for bringing up something like that at a time like this, a time that suddenly seemed much more romantic than anything from last night. But, Jungwoo laughed quietly and picked up his fork, nodding with amusement.

“I do indeed,” he replied, cutting into the cupcake and loading a piece onto his fork. He eyed the remaining plate. “What’s that one? I want to make sure I chose well.”

Yukhei glanced down at the plate in front of him. “Oh. This is blood orange and mocha. It’s my favorite.” He hadn’t even noticed which flavors he’d chosen.

Jungwoo smiled. “It works out, then,” he said, and then he took a bite. Yukhei watched him intently, desperate to make a good impression, since he hadn’t gotten to see the impression his first cupcake made on Jungwoo, all those weeks earlier. He watched as Jungwoo’s eyes fell shut while he chewed the bite, letting out a little sigh of contentment after a moment.

“It’s delicious, Yukhei,” Jungwoo said, when he’d opened his eyes again.

Yukhei smiled, digging into his own treat. “Thank you.”

They ate in silence for a minute, and then Yukhei couldn’t resist asking at least one of the questions rolling around in his mind any longer. “So, did you just come here to try my cupcakes?” he questioned with a grin, licking frosting off his fork.

Jungwoo chuckled. “That’s one reason, I guess,” he replied, setting down his own fork and wiping his mouth delicately. “I just, um… I wanted to talk about… y’know…”

Yukhei watched him struggle for the words. He realized maybe Jungwoo didn’t know how to do this any better than Yukhei did, wasn’t good at expressing his feelings. He looked away before Jungwoo could catch him, back down at his half-eaten cupcake, and suddenly, he had an idea.

“Cupcakes?” Yukhei suggested. “We could talk about cupcakes.”

Jungwoo’s brow furrowed in slight confusion. “I… okay…?”

Yukhei took another bite. “Yeah. We could talk about cupcakes.” He paused, thinking some more before he went on. “See, there’s all different flavors of cupcakes in the world, right? It’s sort of impossible to want to taste just one. Y’know what I mean?”

A flash of understanding crossed Jungwoo’s face, suddenly. He understood where Yukhei was going with this, or at least, he was starting to. “Sure. With all those flavors, only eating one kind would be...”

Jungwoo trailed off, but Yukhei picked right back up for him smoothly. “Silly. It would be silly. However…” he said, reaching over the table with his fork to steal a bite of Jungwoo’s pineapple-upside-down cupcake, “You can definitely choose a _favorite,_ out of all the flavors. Don’t you think?”

Jungwoo smiled, helping himself to a forkful of Yukhei’s blood orange mocha cupcake. “I think so. I think I might have a favorite cupcake.”

Yukhei bit his lip, blushing again. “I think I have one too.”

Jungwoo concentrated on his plate, swirling his fork through the remnants of frosting there. “But… what if I want to… what if I want to keep tasting all the other cupcakes, even though I have a favorite? A favorite that I… I want to come home to every night… after all the other…”

Yukhei grinned, shrugging. He took a sip of water before he replied. “Then that’s fine. I definitely want to _watch_ you taste all the other cupcakes. It makes me happy. I want us to both be happy with our cupcake choices, Jungwoo.”

Jungwoo finished his cupcake first, hands dropping down to his lap as he leaned forward a little in his chair. “I’m happy with my cupcake choice, Yukhei. I’m… I really just… I don’t feel like this about any of the other cupcakes. They’re pretty, and I like to… I like to eat them, sometimes…”

“And I like to watch you eat them,” Yukhei reminded him.

“Yes, that. That’s good. But, anyway…” Jungwoo fidgeted nervously, until Yukhei reached under the table and took his hand. “You’re my favorite cupcake, Yukhei. This metaphor is completely ridiculous, but I love it. I love that you thought of it. I like you so much, honestly,” Jungwoo said earnestly, getting bolder by the minute. Yukhei let him talk. He could have listened to Jungwoo talk forever.

“I don’t really date that often. Um… hardly ever, really. But I… I want to date you. I really, really want to date you and I want you to date me and I want us to only date each other, but… I don’t want to give up any of the rest of it, either.” Jungwoo was talking fast, now, still a little nervous, Yukhei could see.

“I don’t want to quit camming and I don’t want to quit kissing other boys sometimes. But I just… I… I want you to be there, when I do it? When you can, of course. I want you to be a part of all of it.” Jungwoo was starting to stutter, running out of words and running high on anxiety. Yukhei stroked the back of Jungwoo’s hand with his thumb, trying to soothe him. It worked, a little. Jungwoo quieted down, giving Yukhei a turn.

He considered his words carefully before he said them, something he wasn’t entirely accustomed to doing. “I want those things too, Jungwoo. I wouldn’t ask you to change anything about your life. I want you no matter what. And it’s not in _spite_ of what you do or how you are. It’s _because_ of it,” Yukhei emphasized. “I like you just the way you are.”

He checked on Jungwoo again, to gauge how he was receiving all of this information. To Yukhei’s surprise, Jungwoo’s head was turned away from him, turned away and tilted up, looking at something above him. Some _one_ above him.

Yukhei followed his gaze, and Mark was just sort of standing there, watching excitedly. Eavesdropping, really, with a huge grin on his face.

Yukhei scowled a little, but his heart wasn’t really in it. He was too happy. “Something you need, Mark?”

Mark blinked once or twice, shaking his head from side to side as if he was coming out of a trance. “Whoa. I kind of fell out there. Listening to that was just really nice. Good stuff’s happening here, you guys.”

Yukhei rolled his eyes. “Yes, but… did you _need_ something?” he pressed, and Mark finally seemed to remember why he’d come over to their table in the first place.

“Oh. Yeah, totally. Um. Super sorry about this, but there’s like a… a vague… oven crisis, things are really going off the chain back there in the kitchen, so if you could just… I’m _so_ sorry, honestly, but--”

Yukhei stood, cutting Mark off. “God. Okay. Just give me a second, all right? I’ll come rescue you from yourself. Again.”

Mark smiled gratefully. “You got it, cap’n!” He gave Jungwoo a thumbs up and a big wave before he took off running back to the kitchen. Yukhei threw a brief glance in that direction. He didn’t see any smoke creeping out under the doors, yet. He still had at least a few moments to spare.

Yukhei gave Jungwoo a regretful look. “Sorry, I’ve… I guess I’ve gotta go,” he said, and Jungwoo chuckled, standing up too.

“I guess so. But, maybe… after you’re off? Maybe you’d like to come over and watch a movie or something. No funny business. Just, like… a real first date, or something?” Jungwoo offered, hands in his pockets and looking nervous all over again.

Yukhei grinned from ear to ear. “No funny business? You sure about that?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jungwoo laughed, rolling his eyes. “Okay, maybe a _little_ funny business. How’s that? You in?”

Yukhei nodded. “Yeah. I’m in. I’m in, Jungwoo,” he repeated, hoping Jungwoo understood the entirety of what he meant by those three small words.

Yukhei could see he did, when Jungwoo smiled and nodded back. “Me too.”

From back in the kitchen, Yukhei heard Mark let out a quick, undignified shriek.

Jungwoo snickered. “You better go. For real.”

Yukhei sighed. “Yeah. Okay.” He leaned down and gave Jungwoo a kiss on the cheek. Just one. One of many in the future, he hoped. “Thanks for stopping by.”

Jungwoo nodded, backing up a few steps towards the door. “Would you bring me a cupcake when you come over later, Yukhei?”

Yukhei backed up in the opposite direction, towards the kitchen. “Of course. Extra frosting?” he asked, throwing Jungwoo a wink.

Jungwoo bit his lip. “Extra frosting.”

Yukhei grinned again. “You got it, sweetheart,” he said, and then he turned and ran back to the kitchen, to save Mark from his latest bakery crisis, as always.


	2. The Climax Crew

Hi everyone! This is just a note to let you all know that a collection has been created for this universe. You can find it  **[here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/the_climax_crew)**! Feel free to read all the works as they get added, and if you'd like to join the fun and add a story yourself, go for it! I've outlined a few simple rules on the collection profile page, but overall, just have fun! I'll be updating this post every time a work is added to the collection to include the link for those who find this story. :) Happy reading (and writing)!

-Jinx-

 

**The Climax Crew (feat. an attempt at chronlogical in-universe order)**

1\. [Ice Cream Cake (rendawnie)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15646419)

2\. [Work For It (shuuvee)](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/the_climax_crew/works/14807679)

3. [Sugar (rendawnie)](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/the_climax_crew/works/14621325)

 

_Last update: 8/11/2018_


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